DIOR-PMR: Decrease of tocilizumab in polymyalgia rheumatica

Pseudopolyarthritis rhizomelic (PPR) is a common inflammatory disease affecting patients over the age of 50, which is treated since the 1950s with corticosteroids for 1 or 2 years.  Over the past 10 years, on the one hand, corticosteroid dependence in approximately 30% of patients has been clearly demonstrated and, on the other hand, new treatments have proven their effectiveness in innovative studies initiated in Brest. Since then, tocilizumab (anti-IL6) has been frequently used to avoid high corticosteroid exposure, but the methods for discontinuing treatment are unknown (is gradual discontinuation less likely to cause relapses than abrupt discontinuation?). This lack of precise methods for discontinuing treatment in a disease that is highly prone to relapses also poses a problem in terms of treatment costs. The aim of this PHRC is therefore to compare two methods of discontinuing tocilizumab when patients are in remission under treatment, thereby enabling the best strategy for each patient to be defined.

This project is led by Pr Valérie Devauchelle-Pensec and was granted under the reference "PHRC-24-0295 ; DécroIssance du tOcilizumab dans la pseudo polyarthrite Rhizomélique".