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[Rheumatoid arthritis and multiple myeloma as comorbidity. Is tocilizumab a therapy option?]

N Schütz1, E Märker-Hermann

  • 1Klinik Innere Medizin IV (Rheumatologie, klinische Immunologie und Nephrologie), HSK, Dr.-Horst-Schmidt-Kliniken GmbH, Ludwig-Erhard-Str. 100, 65199, Wiesbaden, Deutschland. norbert.schuetz@hsk-wiesbaden.de

Zeitschrift Fur Rheumatologie
|January 31, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Tocilizumab effectively treated rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and stabilized multiple myeloma (MM) in an elderly patient. This suggests tocilizumab may be a viable treatment for RA with co-existing MM.

Area of Science:

  • Rheumatology
  • Oncology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Multiple myeloma (MM) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are common in the elderly.
  • Interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a key role in the pathology of both MM and RA.

Observation:

  • A case study of an elderly female patient with both MM and RA was presented.
  • The patient was treated with tocilizumab, an IL-6 receptor inhibitor.

Findings:

  • Tocilizumab treatment resulted in sustained remission of RA.
  • The treatment also led to stabilization of MM, with a quantitative reduction in paraprotein.

Implications:

  • Tocilizumab may be a beneficial treatment option for patients with RA and co-existing MM.
  • Further investigation into IL-6 targeted therapies for combined MM and RA is warranted.

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