Tanezumab for Patients with Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Meta-Analysis

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 6; p. e0157105
• Main Authors: Kan, Shun-Li, Li, Yan, Ning, Guang-Zhi, Yuan, Zhi-Fang, Chen, Ling-Xiao, Bi, Ming-Chao, Sun, Jing-Cheng, Feng, Shi-Qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 13.06.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analgesics; Analysis; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized - therapeutic use; Arthritis; Biocompatibility; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Complications and side effects; Confidence intervals; Critical care; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drugs; Growth factors; Health aspects; Hospitals; Humans; Intervention; Knee; Medicine and Health Sciences; Meta-analysis; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents; Older people; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee - drug therapy; Osteoarthritis, Knee - epidemiology; Pain; Pain Measurement; Patients; Peripheral neuropathy; Physical Sciences; Quality of life; Randomization; Research and Analysis Methods; Rheumatic diseases; Rheumatism; Safety; Severity of Illness Index; Studies; Surgeons; Systematic review; Treatment Outcome; Ontario; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157105

Tanezumab is a new therapeutic intervention for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. We performed the present meta-analysis to appraise the efficacy and safety of tanezumab for patients with knee OA. We systematically searched randomized controlled trials from PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). The primary outcomes were mean change in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain, the WOMAC physical function and patient's global assessment (PGA). Outcomes were reported as the standard mean difference (SMD) or relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). We assessed the pooled data using a random-effects model. Of the identified studies, four were eligible and were included in this meta-analysis (N = 1839 participants). Compared with the placebo groups, tanezumab yielded a significant reduction in mean change in the WOMAC pain (SMD = 0.51, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.69, P<0.00001), the WOMAC physical function (SMD = 0.56, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.74, P<0.00001) and PGA (SMD = 0.34, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.47, P<0.00001). There was no significant difference in serious adverse events (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.92, P = 0.84) between the tanezumab and placebo groups. Tanezumab significantly increased discontinuations due to adverse events (RR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.59 to 5.26, P = 0.0005), abnormal peripheral sensations (RR = 3.14, 95% CI 2.12 to 4.66, P<0.00001), and peripheral neuropathy (RR = 6.05, 95% CI 2.32 to 15.81, P = 0.0002). Tanezumab can alleviate pain and improve function for patients with OA of the knee. However, considering the limited number of studies, this conclusion should be interpreted cautiously and more clinical randomized controlled trials are needed to verify the efficacy and safety of tanezumab for OA of the knee.