Interferon-alpha2a Versus Cyclosporin A for Severe Ocular Behcet's Disease (INCYTOB)

Phase 3

Completed

• Conditions: Behcet's Disease; Panuveitis; Posterior Uveitis; Retinal Vasculitis
• Interventions: Drug: Interferon-alpha2a; Drug: Cyclosporin A

• Registration Number: NCT00167583
• Lead Sponsor: University Hospital Tuebingen

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate if interferon-alpha2a is superior to the standard treatment with cyclosporin A for the treatment of severe ocular manifestations of Behcet's disease.

Detailed Description

Behcet's disease is a multisystem vasculitis often involving ocular (retinal) blood vessels (in 70% of all cases). This form of uveitis or retinal vasculitis still leads to blindness in 25 to 50% of the patients irrespective of immunosuppressive treatment.

The aim of the study is to evaluate if Interferon-alpha2a is superior to the present standard treatment (cyclosporin A (CSA)) for severe ocular (panuveitis, posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis) Behçet's Disease (BD) and significantly improves visual prognosis and quality of health and life of the patients with ocular BD and is acting more rapidly than standard treatment. Furthermore, we want to evaluate if IFN-α induces long term remissions of ocular BD which can be maintained without further medical treatment.

The patients are randomised into two treatment groups (IFN/CSA) and treated for one year according to an algorithm which adapts dosages to clinical course. A crossover from one treatment arm to the other is planned in case of inefficacy.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2004-11
• Study First Submitted: 2005-09-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2005-09-09
• Study First Posted: 2005-09-14
• Primary Completion: 2014-12
• Study Completion: 2014-12
• Status Verified: 2016-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-05-14
• Last Update Posted: 2018-05-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 37

Inclusion Criteria

• Behçet's disease fulfilling the International Study Group Criteria with active pan- or posterior uveitis (according to the posterior uveitis scoring system) or retinal vasculitis and active disease according to the Behcet's Disease activity scoring system.

Exclusion Criteria

• Previous treatment with interferon-α or cyclosporin A
• Pregnancy, breast feeding women, malignancy
• Renal impairment (creatinine > 1.5 mg/dl)
• Uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes
• Depression or other psychic disorders(also history of depression)
• History of acute or chronic inflammatory joint or autoimmune disease
• Organ or bone marrow transplant recipient, cardiac failure > NYHAIII
• Acute liver disease with SGPT 2x above normal
• White blood cell count < 3500/mm3
• Platelet count < 100000/mm3
• Hgb < 8.5g/dl
• Body weight <45 kg
• Alcohol abuse or drug abuse
• Mental impairment
• Uncooperative attitude

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
B Interferon alpha	Interferon-alpha2a	Interferon-alpha2a
A Cyclosporin A	Cyclosporin A	Cyclosporin A

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Improvement of disease activity and preservation of visual acuity (monthly, at one and 2 years)	2 years
Time to improvement and remission	2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Laboratory values for inflammatory activity (monthly)	2 years
Number of ocular and non-ocular relapses (1 year, 2 years)	2 years
Number of switches from one treatment to the other	2 years
Quality of life for patients with low vision (monthly)	2 years
Duration of the treatment-free period (second year)	2 years

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Internal Medicine II and Department of Ophthalmology; 🇩🇪 Tuebingen, Germany