Objective
to analyze the available evidence about the use of rituximab (RTX) and other biologic agents in Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA) patients and to provide useful findings to inform the design of future, reliable clinical trials.
Methods
A systematic review was performed. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane library databases and an extensive literature search on other biologic agents.
Results
45 papers pertinent to our questions were found: 16 retrospective cohort studies, 8 case series, 3 prospective cohort studies and 18 single case reports, for a total of 368 EGPA patients. More than 80% of evaluable patients achieved complete or partial remission with a tendency towards a higher rate of complete response in pANCA positive subgroup.
Conclusion
Although the majority of the evaluable EGPA patients treated with RTX appears to achieve complete remission, we strongly believe that a number of sources of heterogeneity impairs a clear interpretation of results and limits their transferability in clinical practice. Differences in design, enrollment criteria, outcome definition and measurement make a comparison among data obtained from studies on RTX and other biologic agents unreliable.