Development of draft validation criteria for a soluble biomarker to be regarded as a valid biomarker reflecting structural damage endpoints in rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis clinical trials

• Published in: Journal of rheumatology Vol. 34; no. 3; p. 634
• Main Authors: Maksymowych, Walter P, Landewe, Robert, Boers, Maarten, Garnero, Patrick, Geusens, Piet, El-Gabalawy, Hani, Heinegard, Dick, Kraus, Virginia B, Krause, Virginia, Lohmander, Stefan, Matyas, John, Saxne, Tore, van der Heijde, Desiree
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada 01.03.2007
• Subjects: Arthritis, Rheumatoid - blood; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - pathology; Biomarkers; Consensus; Delphi Technique; Humans; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) - standards; Predictive Value of Tests; Reproducibility of Results; Spondylarthritis - blood; Spondylarthritis - pathology; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0315-162X

Recent work has shown that several soluble biomarkers, detectable in peripheral blood, synovial fluid, and/or urine, reflect remodeling of joint tissues and may therefore constitute outcome measures that reflect joint damage. Consequently, it is now desirable to begin the process of developing criteria for validation of a soluble biomarker as an outcome measure reflecting structural damage progression in trials of disease-modifying therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA). Our objective was to develop validation criteria for a soluble biomarker to be regarded as a valid biomarker reflecting radiological endpoints in RA and SpA clinical trials. A special interest group was established comprising investigators with expertise in soluble biomarker assay development as well as in outcomes research. This project was initiated by means of a Delphi consensus exercise. A list of draft criteria was first generated following a review of a US National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2000 white paper (available at: http://www.niams.nih.gov/ne/oi/ oabiomarwhipap.htm) that focused on biomarkers in OA, and these were organized under subject headings relevant to the OMERACT filter: truth, discrimination, and feasibility. Additional criteria were solicited from the working group. This was followed by 3 rounds of voting. A list of 31 criteria was generated prior to voting. The first 2 rounds of voting resulted in cumulative agreement that 19 criteria be retained and 4 discarded, while discrepancies were recorded for 8 criteria. In the third round of voting, cumulative agreement was achieved to retain 5 of the 8 discrepant criteria, so that the final list included 24 criteria. A draft set of criteria for validation of a soluble biomarker to be regarded as reflecting radiological damage endpoints in clinical trials has been proposed on the basis of consensus.