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Medications for Temporal Arteritis/Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA)
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jun 4 7:35am | Replies (431)Comment receiving replies
@jr46 My understanding of clinical trials is if you are in the control group, i. e. the group not getting the drug being tested, they put you on the "standard of care". That means most likely you are receiving Actemra/Tyenne in place of the drug being tested. The results will show if the new drug performs better than, equal to or worse than the current standard treatment.
I cannot believe if you have GCA that they would not give you some treatment. That seems like that would put you at undo risk.
Replies to "@jr46 My understanding of clinical trials is if you are in the control group, i. e...."
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The research effort was something we could only dream about in the not so distant past. Thank-you @jr46 for being part of a research study.
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@jabrown0407
In principle, you are correct except the current "standard of care" at least initially for GCA and PMR, is still prednisone. I think after relapses happen and patients can't taper off Prednisone in a reasonable amount of time ---the treatment in the USA is starting to go toward starting a biologic. The great thing about this PMR/GCA forum is that so many people are sharing their personal experiences with alternatives to prednisone. I was getting weary of hearing that prednisone was the "only option."
The control group is getting Prednisone and a placebo.
The experimental group is getting prednisone and abatacept.
Both groups are doing a standard Prednisone taper.
The following is an older study and not a current study. Research is always ongoing and this older study was promising. I'm not sure what study @jr46 has been enrolled in.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5378642/
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Nobody is being treated with only a placebo but that sometimes confuses people.
There is currently a "tsunami of effort" to get people off Prednisone sooner than the current standard. There is a significant, evidence-based push in modern medicine to reduce, shorten, or eliminate long-term use of prednisone and other corticosteroids due to severe side effects and the risk of adrenal suppression.
https://www.healio.com/news/rheumatology/20250220/tsunami-of-effortbrings-biologics-to-the-forefront-in-giant-cell-arteritis-pmr