Murray Urowitz1, Mary E. Georgiou2, Jiandong Su3, Anne MacKinnon3, Yulia Green4, Kerry Gairy2, Roger A Levy5 and Patricia C. Juliao6, 1University of Toronto, University Health Network, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2GlaxoSmithKline, Value Evidence and Outcomes, Brentford, United Kingdom, 3University of Toronto Lupus Program, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, University Health Network, Division of Rheumatology, Toronto, ON, Canada, 4GlaxoSmithKline, Clinical Development, Brentford, United Kingdom, 5GlaxoSmithKline, Global Medical Affairs, Collegeville, PA, 6GlaxoSmithKline, Value Evidence and Outcomes, Collegeville, PA
Background/Purpose: Approximately 40% of adult patients with SLE develop LN, which can lead to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).1 Renal response is used in clinical trials as a measure of treatment efficacy in patients with LN; however, there are various definitions of renal response and limited evidence to support whether it accurately predicts long-term renal outcomes. A study using data from the Hopkins Lupus Cohort showed that a real-world modified version of the primary efficacy renal response (mPERR; without requirement of tapering of oral steroid therapy) endpoint of the BLISS-LN study (NCT01639339) accurately predicted long-term renal outcomes.2
This study primarily assessed the association between mPERR status at 2 years (2Y) post-biopsy-proven LN and long-term renal survival (no ESKD or death) among patients with LN from the University of Toronto Lupus Cohort (TLC) database, a prospective, longitudinal cohort of patients with SLE.
Methods: This retrospective observational study (GSK Study 212866) used data from eligible adult patients with biopsy-proven class III, IV, V, III/V, or IV/V LN within the TLC. Patients were followed up from 2Y post-biopsy until censoring. Primary and secondary endpoints included the associations of mPERR status with long-term renal survival, and survival without moderate/severe chronic kidney disease (CKD; defined as absence of ≥2 new, consecutive eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 occurrences recorded ≥3 months apart).
Patients were classified as mPERR or no mPERR at 2Y post-biopsy. mPERR was defined as proteinuria ≤0.7 g/24 h and an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≤20% below biopsy value or ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2. Long-term renal survival was defined as the absence of ESKD (defined as eGFR < 30 ml/min/1.73 m2, dialysis, or transplant) or death, assessed during the follow-up period. Kaplan-Meier plots and log-rank tests were used to compare survival outcomes by mPERR status.
Results: In total, 179 patients were included in the ESKD analysis, with a mean (standard deviation) age of 34.2 (11.3) years at biopsy; class IV LN was the most frequent (n=66, 36.9%). At 2Y post-biopsy, 128 (71.5%) patients achieved mPERR, while 51 (28.5%) did not. Achieving mPERR was associated with an increased likelihood of long-term renal survival versus not achieving mPERR (p=0.0130; Figure 1).
For long-term survival without moderate/severe CKD analysis, 154/179 patients were included; 25 had moderate/severe CKD prior to 2Y post-biopsy and were excluded. At 2Y post-biopsy, 110 (71.4%) patients achieved mPERR, while 44 (28.6%) did not. Achieving mPERR was associated with an increased likelihood of long-term survival without moderate/severe CKD versus not achieving mPERR (p< 0.0001; Figure 2).
Conclusion: Achieving mPERR at 2Y post-biopsy was associated with improved long-term renal survival and survival without moderate/severe CKD. This adds to the existing body of evidence that mPERR status is a suitable predictor of long-term renal outcomes within different patient populations and validates the need for sustained response to therapy.
Funding: GSK
References 1Mahajan A, et al. Lupus. 2020;29:1011–20 2Petri M, et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020;72 (suppl 10) Figure 1. Probability of long-term renal survival among patients who achieved mPERR (red) and those who did not achieve mPERR (blue) at 2Y post-biopsy.
Follow-up period is the time after mPERR assessment (year 0 in the figure is 2Y post-biopsy). Beyond year 15, patient sample sizes were small so should be interpreted with caution.
Figure 2. Probability of long-term survival without moderate/severe CKD among patients who achieved mPERR (red) and those who did not achieve mPERR (blue) at 2Y post-biopsy.
Follow-up period is the time after mPERR assessment (year 0 in the figure is 2Y post-biopsy). Beyond year 15, patient sample sizes were small so should be interpreted with caution. Disclosures: M. Urowitz, None; M. Georgiou, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); J. Su, None; A. MacKinnon, None; Y. Green, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); K. Gairy, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); R. Levy, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); P. Juliao, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).