On 2015 Jan 05, NephJC - Nephrology Journal Club commented:

This trial was discussed on Dec 16th and Dec 18th (in the first transatlantic version) in the open online nephrology journal club, #NephJC, on twitter. Introductory explanatory comments, written by Rheumatologist, Dr Paul Sufka, are available at the NephJC website, and Dr Sufka’s blog. It had more than 50 participants, including nephrologists, rheumatologists and nephrology and rheumatology fellows. Transcripts and curated (i.e. Storified) versions of the tweetchats are available from the NephJC website.

The salient highlights of the discussion included:

• The authors and the funding agency (the French Ministry of Health) should be commended for performing this trial to find better ways of minimizing relapses in ANCA associated vasculitis.

• There was significant discussion around the Azathioprine dose chosen (tapered down to levels below that used in the CYCAZAREM trial in later part of this trial); as also the finding of early separation between arms, suggesting some patients in the control arm were azathioprine non-responders.

• The Rituximab dosing strategy seemed quite astute, and was quite successful in reducing relapses without an increase in adverse events. The discussants looked forward to publication of more data from this trial, especially on B cell populations and ANCA titres, that could shed more light for a deeper understanding of the results.

Overall, there was significant enthusiasm for using Rituximab in this setting, though the results of more trials, especially RITAZAREM and MAINRITSAN-2 are now keenly awaited.

Interested individuals can track and join in the conversation by following @NephJC or #NephJC, or visit the webpage at NephJC.com.

On 2015 Jan 05, NephJC - Nephrology Journal Club commented:

This trial was discussed on Dec 16th and Dec 18th (in the first transatlantic version) in the open online nephrology journal club, #NephJC, on twitter. Introductory explanatory comments, written by Rheumatologist, Dr Paul Sufka, are available at the NephJC website, and Dr Sufka’s blog. It had more than 50 participants, including nephrologists, rheumatologists and nephrology and rheumatology fellows. Transcripts and curated (i.e. Storified) versions of the tweetchats are available from the NephJC website.

The salient highlights of the discussion included:

• The authors and the funding agency (the French Ministry of Health) should be commended for performing this trial to find better ways of minimizing relapses in ANCA associated vasculitis.

• There was significant discussion around the Azathioprine dose chosen (tapered down to levels below that used in the CYCAZAREM trial in later part of this trial); as also the finding of early separation between arms, suggesting some patients in the control arm were azathioprine non-responders.

• The Rituximab dosing strategy seemed quite astute, and was quite successful in reducing relapses without an increase in adverse events. The discussants looked forward to publication of more data from this trial, especially on B cell populations and ANCA titres, that could shed more light for a deeper understanding of the results.

Overall, there was significant enthusiasm for using Rituximab in this setting, though the results of more trials, especially RITAZAREM and MAINRITSAN-2 are now keenly awaited.

Interested individuals can track and join in the conversation by following @NephJC or #NephJC, or visit the webpage at NephJC.com.