Earlier Treatment May Improve Outcomes in Patients With Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis

Patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nraxSpA) who were younger or had a shorter disease duration had better improvement with secukinumab than older patients or those with longer disease duration, according to study results published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

“These data suggest that earlier treatment improves patient outcomes in nraxSpA,” wrote researchers.

The findings stem from a post hoc analysis of a phase 3, randomized study of patients with nraxSpA. Researchers assessed the efficacy of secukinumab 150 mg in patients who were tumor necrosis factor-naïve, by age and time since onset of back pain, the latter of which served as a surrogate of disease symptoms.

After 2 years of secukinumab treatment, improvements in Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society 40 (ASAS40) scores were greater in patients aged 18 to 33 years compared with patients aged 52 years and older.

Additionally, ASAS40 gains were greater in patients with 2 or fewer years of back pain compared with patients with more than 10 years of back pain.

“Efficacy responses were numerically higher with secukinumab in patients with nr-axSpA with shorter symptom duration and in younger age,” wrote researchers.

Reference:
Deodhar A, Poddubnyy D, Blanco R, et al. AB0759 Efficacy of secukinumab in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis: analysis by symptom duration and age. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;81:1505-1506. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2022-eular.1732