Studies Ask if Gender Has an Effect on Secukinumab Efficacy in AS and PsA

Abstracts containing data from the noninterventional AQUILA study provided real world evidence on whether gender influences the effectiveness of secukinumab (Cosentyx) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

The abstracts from the German study were presented at American College of Rheumatology Convergence 2021. The AQUILA study is an ongoing multicenter study examining more than 3000 patients with active AS or PsA from baseline up to week 52.

The investigators distributed validated questionnaires to patients to collect data on disease activity, global functioning and health, and depressive mood severity. Patient-reported outcomes were provided using the patient global assessment (PGA).

For AS, 683 patients were examined, 59.7% (n = 408) of whom were male.¹ The mean Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index scores, which indicate AS disease activity, were comparable between male and female patients with AS over time (week 52, 5.2-3.8 vs 5.3-4.1, respectively). Comparable results between male and female patients were also observed for PGA (week 52, 5.9-4.1 vs 5.6-4.3).

The mean Assessment of Spondyloarthritis-Health Index scores, which represented global function and health, were higher among women. However, improvements in global functioning were comparable between genders from baseline to week 52.

Severity of depressive mood was lower among male patients, but overall reductions in Beck’s Depression Inventory version 2 (BDI-II) scores, which indicated severity of depressive mood, were comparable between male and female patients (11.2-10.2 vs 13.1-11.0, respectively). The treatment retention rate was higher for men than for women, but this was not considered statistically significant.

For PsA, 1278 patients were analyzed, of whom 41.5% (n = 531) were men and 58.5% (n = 747) were women.² The Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease scores over time were found to be higher among female patients but improved comparably with male patients (5.3-3.5 vs 4.8-2.9, respectively). A similar improvement was observed for mean PGA among male and female patients (4.9-3.0 vs 5.6-3.5).

Improvements to Psoriatic Arthritis Severity Index scores, which represented skin disease activity, were similar between male (6.8-1.9) and female patients (7.0-1.0) from baseline to week 52. The mean joint counts, such as whether they are tender or swollen, also improved similarly across genders (male vs female: tenderness, 6.8-3.1 vs 7.3-2.8; swollen, 3.7-0.9 vs 3.7-0.9).

Over time, male patients showed overall reduced BDI-II scores. However, the reductions were comparable between the genders (male vs female, 10.2-8.1 vs 13.0-10.6). Additionally, secukinumab treatment retention rate was higher for male patients than for female patients, but it was not statistically significant.

“Altogether, this interim analysis shows that secukinumab is an effective treatment up to 52 weeks, with high treatment retention rates in a real-world setting, irrespective of gender,” wrote the authors.

References

1. Kiltz U, Brandt-Jurgens J, Kästner P, Riechers E, Peterlik D, Tony H-P. How does gender affect secukinumab treatment outcomes and retention rates in patients with ankylosing spondylitis? – real world data from a German observational study. Presented at: ACR Convergence 2021; November 3-9, 2021. Abstract 0909. https://bit.ly/3x1kwVX
2. Kiltz U, Brandt-Jurgens J, Kästner P, Riechers E, Peterlik D, Tony H-P. How does gender affect secukinumab treatment outcomes and retention rates in patients with psoriatic arthritis? – real world data from a German observational study. Presented at: ACR Convergence 2021; November 3- 9, 2021. Abstract 1334. https://bit.ly/3x0RUwf