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ARD Online First, published on November 4, 2017 as 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211574
Clinical and epidemiological research

Extended report

Stepwise dose increase of febuxostat is comparable

with colchicine prophylaxis for the prevention of
gout flares during the initial phase of urate-lowering
therapy: results from FORTUNE-1, a prospective,
multicentre randomised study
Hisashi Yamanaka,1 Shigenori Tamaki,2 Yumiko Ide,3 Hyeteko Kim,4 Kouichi Inoue,5
Masayuki Sugimoto,6 Yuji Hidaka,7 Atsuo Taniguchi,1 Shin Fujimori,8
Tetsuya Yamamoto9

Handling editor Tore K Kvien Abstract persistent hyperuricaemia and can be treated by
Objectives To determine whether febuxostat with reducing the body urate pool. This can decrease
►► Additional material is
published online only. To view stepwise dose increase is as useful as colchicine the long-term incidence of gout flares and urate
please visit the journal online prophylaxis in reducing gout flares during the initial tophi. 7–11
(http://d​ x.​doi.o​ rg/​10.​1136/​ introduction of urate-lowering therapy in patients However, gout flares frequently develop
annrheumdis-​2017-​211574). with gout in comparison with febuxostat with no dose during the first several months of urate-low-
1 titration. ering therapy (ULT). 10–12 The initial serum
Institute of Rheumatology,
Tokyo Women’s Medical Methods  In this prospective, multicentre, randomised urate level, the presence of tophus and the dose
University, Tokyo, Japan open-label comparative study, patients were randomised of urate-lowering drugs can affect the risk of
2
Nagoya Rheumatology Clinic, to group A (stepwise dose increase of febuxostat from gout flares during ULT. Unfortunately, medica-
Nagoya, Japan 10 to 40 mg/day), group B (fixed-dose febuxostat 40 mg/ tion adherence is poor, 13–16 partly because gout
3
Tokyo Center Clinic, Tokyo,
Japan day plus colchicine 0.5 mg/day) or group C (fixed-dose flares decrease the motivation of patients to
4
Yokohama Minoru Clinic, febuxostat 40 mg/day) and observed for 12 weeks. Gout continue treatment. 17 18 The prevention of gout
Yokohama, Japan flare was defined as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory flares is thus of key importance when initiating
5
Inoue Clinic, Ibaraki, Japan drug use for gout symptoms. ULT.
6
Shoi-kai Medical Association,
Koganeibashi Sakura Clinic,
Results  A total of 255 patients were randomised, and Concomitant colchicine can help1 19; recent
Tokyo, Japan 241 patients were treated. Among the treated patients, publications from the European League Against
7
Taizan-kai Medical Association, gout flares were experienced by 20/96 (20.8%) in group Rheumatism and the American College of Rheu-
Akasaka Central Clinic, Tokyo, A, 18/95 (18.9%) in group B and 18/50 (36.0%) in matology recommend colchicine for at least the
Japan
8 group C. The incidence of flare was significantly lower first 6 months. 1 20 However, although widely
Teikyo University Shinjuku
Clinic, Tokyo, Japan in groups A and B than that in group C (P=0.047 and used for both therapeutic and prophylactic
9
Department of Diabetes, P=0.024, respectively), although the differences were purposes, colchicine is potentially toxic and
Endocrinology and Metabolism, not significant after correction for multiple comparisons. caution is advised.21–23
Hyogo College of Medicine, No significant difference was noted between the ULT induces the shedding of deposited MSU
Hyogo, Japan
incidence of gout flare in groups A and B. crystals in the joints. Such crystal shedding
Conclusions Our data suggested that stepwise may be facilitated by the dissolution of urate
Correspondence to
Professor Hisashi Yamanaka, dose increase of febuxostat and low-dose colchicine crystals, and also by decreased urate levels
Institute of Rheumatology, prophylaxis effectively reduced gout flares in comparison in the joint fluid. 24 Thus, a rapid decrease in
Tokyo Women’s Medical with fixed-dose febuxostat alone. Stepwise dose increase serum urate could contribute to gout flares,
University 162-0054 10-22 of febuxostat may be an effective alternative to low-dose whereas a gradual decrease should favour flare
Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo, Japan;
colchicine prophylaxis during the introduction of urate- prevention. 10–12
y​ amanaka@​ior.t​ wmu.​ac.​jp lowering therapy. In Japan, clinical trials using a stepwise
Trial registration number  UMIN 000008414. increase in febuxostat dose at the initiation of
Received 31 March 2017 treatment have shown a lower incidence of gout
Revised 2 October 2017
Accepted 22 October 2017 flares than trials using fixed-dose febuxostat.25 26
Thus, there are at least two potential strategies
Introduction to reduce early treatment-related gout flares:
The number of patients with gout is increasing, 1–3 stepwise dose increase and colchicine prophy-
and the debilitating pain of gout flare can laxis. However, no prospective clinical trials
severely impact quality of life. In addition, gout have been conducted to compare the efficacy of
and hyperuricaemia are closely associated with these two strategies.
To cite: Yamanaka H,
diseases related to metabolic syndrome and The present study was designed to investigate
Tamaki S, Ide Y, et al.
Ann Rheum Dis Published renal impairment and may be causally related the incidence of gout flares during early-stage
Online First: [please include to cardiovascular disease.4–6 Gouty arthritis and febuxostat treatment, comparing fixed-dose mono-
Day Month Year]. doi:10.1136/ gouty tophus, clinical presentations of monoso- therapy both to stepwise dose increase and to
annrheumdis-2017-211574 dium urate (MSU) crystal deposition, result from low-dose colchicine prophylaxis.
Yamanaka H, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;0:1–7. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211574    1
Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2017. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (& EULAR) under licence.
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Clinical and epidemiological research

Patients and methods Sample size
Patients The sample size for the study was based on the primary end
Men with gout who had at least one episode of gouty arthritis point. A previous study noted that a lower percentage of patients
within 1 year before study entry, whose serum urate exceeded experienced gout flares in groups A and B than that in group C.30
7.0 mg/dL (416.39 µmol/L) and who had not received treat- Based on earlier reports in the literature,25 26 30 we estimated that
ment with any urate-lowering drugs for at least 1 month prior the incidence of gout flares during a 12-week treatment period
to entry were enrolled after giving written informed consent. would be 5% for groups A and B and 25% for group C in this
Diagnosis of gout was based on the 1977 criteria.27 Patients study. Thus, for ethical reasons, we set the ratio of treatment
experiencing gouty arthritis within 2 weeks before study entry groups at 2:2:1. To achieve a 5% two-sided significance level
were excluded. Other exclusion criteria were age <20 years, and 89% power to detect the differences between group A and
history of allergic reaction to febuxostat, colchicine or non-ste- group C and between group B and group C, we calculated that
roidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), presence of serious 90 patients were required for group A, 90 patients for group B
comorbidities including serum creatinine level of 2.0 mg/dL or and 45 patients for group C. We estimated a 10% dropout rate
higher and the judgement of the investigator that the patient from the study and, thus, set the sample size to 100, 100 and 50
was not an appropriate candidate for study participation. patients, respectively.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria are detailed in online supple-
mentary table 1.
End points
The primary end point was the incidence rate of gouty arthritis
Study design (gouty aura not included) during the ‘treatment period’ (the first
This prospective, multicentre, randomised, open-label compar- 12 weeks of the study), defined as the percentage of patients
ative study was conducted by the Febuxostat Outcome Research who needed analgesic treatment with NSAIDs or adrenal corti-
Towards Urate Lowering in the Next Decade (FORTUNE) costeroid to manage gout symptoms.
consortium, organised by multiple clinical sites across Japan,28
Patients were instructed to record symptoms and NSAID use
and was designated the FORTUNE-1 study. Patients were
in the specified patient record form. Rubor, swelling and other
randomised as follows: group A, stepwise dose increase of febux-
symptoms were verified by the attending investigator during the
ostat from 10 mg/day (4 weeks), 20 mg/day (4 weeks) and 40 mg/
patient's next visit. Visits occurred every 4 weeks. Mild attacks
day (until the end of the study); group B, febuxostat 40 mg/day
that were tolerable without NSAID use were not defined as gout
from the start of the study, with concomitant colchicine 0.5 mg/
flares. Any use of NSAIDs for reasons other than gouty arthritis
day; or group C, febuxostat 40 mg/day from the start of the study.
was excluded from analysis.
Patients took oral febuxostat one time per day in the morning,
The secondary end points included the number of gout flares
or oral febuxostat and colchicine at the same time one time per
per patient during the first 12 weeks (randomised period), the
day in the morning.
This randomised treatment was conducted during the first 12 number of gout flares per patient during the second 12 weeks
weeks (randomised period), after which all patients were treated (observation period) and the percentage of patients with serum
with febuxostat 40 mg/day for another 12 weeks (observation urate ≤6.0 mg/dL (356.91 µmol/L) in the second 12 weeks
period). (observation period).
Because we anticipated that the incidence of gout flares might An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence
be higher in group C, the randomisation ratio for groups A, B in a subject given the study drug, without requiring a causal
and C was set at 2:2:1 for ethical reasons. relationship to the treatment. An adverse reaction (AR)
The allocation sequence was computer generated by a data was defined as any event for which a causal relationship to
centre (Mebix, Tokyo), using a random number table. Randomi- febuxostat could not be ruled out.
sation was by minimisation,29 adjusted by baseline serum urate
(<8.0 mg/dL (475.88 µmol/L) or ≥8.0 mg/dL (475.88 µmol/L)),
age (<50 or ≥50 years), previous anti-hyperuricaemic therapy
Statistical analysis
(<1 or ≥1) and previous incidence of gouty flare (1 or ≥2 per All statistical analyses were performed on the full analysis
year). The investigators initiated treatment after being informed set (FAS) as defined in the Results section. Baseline patient
of the results of assignment by the data centre. demographics were presented as mean and SD for contin-
This study used an open-label design; investigators and patients uous variables and as frequency for categorical variables. In
were aware of their treatment arm. Investigators handled patient the primary end point analysis, the statistical analysis was
assessment and data collection. corrected for multiple comparisons. A Pearson χ2 test on a
The attending investigator evaluated each adverse event (AE) 3×2 table was used to compare group A with group C. The
and graded the severity as mild (awareness of sign or symptom higher of the two P values was used to test for significance
but no significant discomfort), moderate (discomfort requiring using a threshold of 0.05. This preserves the family-wise
intervention) or severe (prevents daily routine activity or has a error rate when only three groups are involved. 31
clinically important effect). If a causal relationship with febux- For secondary end point analyses, corrections for multiple
ostat could not be ruled out, attending physicians could reduce testing were not performed.
the dose or discontinue febuxostat. During the study, other The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for the number of gout
urate-lowering drugs and drugs that are known to increase or flares, and the Fisher exact test was used for the percentage of
decrease the serum urate level were prohibited. Attending physi- patients with serum urate ≤6.0 mg/dL (356.91 µmol/L).
cians were requested to prescribe NSAIDs at the start of the All tests were two-sided. Statistical significance was at
study for use in managing gout flares. Patients who did not ther- P<0.05. Baseline demographics were summarised using SAS
apeutically respond to NSAIDs or had multiple flares were given V.9.4 (SAS Institute). Other analyses were performed using R
corticosteroids. V.3.0.3.32
2 Yamanaka H, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;0:1–7. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211574
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Clinical and epidemiological research

Figure 1  Patient disposition.

Results urate-lowering drugs were washed out for more than 1 month in
Patient disposition and baseline characteristics these patients. No statistically significant differences were noted
The trial was conducted at 24 centres between August 2013 and in the baseline features of the three groups.
February 2015. As shown in figure 1, a total of 283 patients
agreed to participate in this study (intention-to-treat group).
After excluding patients who met the exclusion criteria or did Incidence of gout flares in the first 12 weeks (randomised
not meet the inclusion criteria, we randomised 255 patients period)
(group A, 101; group B, 102; group C, 52) for the study. Gout flares were experienced within the first 12 weeks
Patients received treatment for 12 weeks and were monitored (randomised period) by 20 of 96 (20.8%) patients in group
for an additional 12 weeks. A total of 14 patients were excluded A, 18 of 95 patients (18.9%) in group B and 18 of 50 patients
from primary end point analysis: 13 patients because treatment (36.0%) in group C (figure 2). In an overall Pearson χ2 test, the
was declined by the doctor or the patient and 1 patient without P value was 0.054, and for the comparison of groups A and C,
informed consent. The remaining 241 patients were defined as the P value was 0.048. Although this P value was below 0.05,
the FAS. The data from these 241 patients (group A, 96; group the null hypothesis for the primary end point was not rejected
B, 95; group C, 50) were used for subsequent analyses (figure 1). because the higher P value of the two tests (0.054) was above
Table 1 summarises the baseline characteristics of these 241 the 0.05 threshold. The difference in flare incidence was statis-
patients. One-third of the patients had received prior ULT; tically significant between group B and group C (P=0.024)

Table 1  Baseline demographics of patients (FAS)

Group A (n=96) Group B (n=95) Group C (n=50)
Febuxostat dose increasing 10–40 mg Febuxostat 40 mg+colchicine Febuxostat 40 mg
Age, mean (SD) 47.4 (10.5) 47.6 (11.1) 46.4 (12.7)
Height, mean (SD), cm 171.0 (5.7) 170.8 (5.8) 169.8 (6.9)
Weight, mean (SD), kg 77.3 (12.4) 76.5 (11.7) 76.8 (16.4)
BMI, mean (SD), kg/m2 26.4 (3.6) 26.2 (3.5) 26.5 (5.1)
Systolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mm Hg 132.6 (14.4) 132.8 (16.3) 132.6 (17.6)
Diastolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mm Hg 84.5 (12.0) 84.3 (11.9) 82.6 (14.0)
Any history of ≥2 gout flares, n (%) 74 (77.1) 70 (73.7) 38 (76.0)
Prior urate-lowering therapy, n (%) 31 (32.3) 31 (32.6) 16 (32.0)
eGFR at entry, mean (SD), mL/min/1.73 m2 75.8 (16.2) 76.6 (13.7) 76.8 (17.5)
Serum urate at entry, mean (SD), mg/dL 8.67 (1.38) 8.51 (1.19) 8.57 (1.17)
Serum creatinine at entry, mean (SD), mg/dL 0.90 (0.16) 0.88 (0.14) 0.89 (0.15)
With any comorbidity, n (%) 51 (53.1) 47 (49.5) 29 (58.0)
BMI, body mass index; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; FAS, full analysis set.

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Clinical and epidemiological research

Figure 2  Incidence of gout flares during the randomised period.

Incidence of gout flares during the first 12 weeks (randomised period)
in group A (stepwise dose increase of febuxostat from 10 to 40 mg/day),
group B (febuxostat 40 mg/day plus colchicine 0.5 mg/day) and group C
(febuxostat 40 mg/day). The overall Pearson χ2 test was not significant.
See text for details. *P<0.05 vs group C.

and between group A+group B and group C (19.9%, 95% CI

14.2 to 25.6, P=0.016) but not between group A and group B
(P=0.744).
The incidence of gout flare was compared in patients previ-
ously treated with ULT and those who were treatment naïve at
baseline. There was no significant difference in the incidence of
gout flares in patients with or without previous ULT within each
treatment group or within the entire study group (online supple-
mentary table 2). Figure 3  Number of gout flares during the study period. Number of
gout flares per patient during the first 12 weeks (randomised period) (A)
Number of gout flares per patient in the study period and the second 12 weeks (observation period) (B). Group A (stepwise
dose increase of febuxostat from 10 to 40 mg/day), group B (febuxostat
To investigate the characteristic time course of gout flares in
40 mg/day plus colchicine 0.5 mg/day) and group C (febuxostat 40 mg/
each group, we analysed the number of gout flares in each study
day).
period.
During the first 12 weeks (randomised period), a total of 27
flares were identified in 20 patients (1.35 flares/patient) in group Percentage of patients with serum urate ≤6.0 mg/dL (356.91
A, 24 flares in 18 patients (1.33 flares/patient) in group B and µmol/L)
37 flares in 18 patients (2.06 flares/patient) in group C. There Urate-lowering effects of treatment were investigated in the 241
was no significant difference between group A and group C or patients. Some data were missing because treatment had been
between group B and group C. In the second 12 weeks (obser- discontinued or were otherwise unavailable. Figure 4 shows the
vation period), there were 18 flares in 15 patients (1.20 flares/ percentage of patients whose serum urate decreased to 6.0 mg/
patient) in group A, 26 flares in 17 patients (1.53 flares/patient) dL (356.91 µmol/L) or below at weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24,
in group B and 8 flares in six patients (1.33 flares/patient) in and the number of patients used for calculations for each time
group C. There was no significant difference between treatment point and each group.
groups. The number of flares in each patient who had gout flares A significantly lower percentage of patients reached the
in the first 12 weeks and the second 12 weeks is illustrated in target level of serum urate at 4 weeks (P<0.001) and 8 weeks
figure 3A,B, respectively. (P<0.001) in group A compared with group B or group C. There
During the 24 weeks (randomised + observational periods), was no significant difference among the three treatment groups
there were 45 flares in 30 patients (1.50 flares/patient) in group after 12 weeks.
A, 59 flares in 28 patients (1.79 flares/patient) in group B and 45
flares in 19 patients (2.37 flares/patient) in group C. The number Safety profile
of flares in each patient is illustrated in online supplementary AEs and ARs are listed in table 2. No clinically important AEs or
figure 1. serious AEs were reported. No differences were identified in the
4 Yamanaka H, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;0:1–7. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211574
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Clinical and epidemiological research

Discussion
Febuxostat is a xanthine oxidase inhibitor with a potent serum
urate-lowering effect and a reliable safety profile.25 26 33 In the
first clinical studies of febuxostat in Japan, gout flare was the
major AE; subsequent study designs incorporated a stepwise
dose increase, which reduced the incidence of gout flares.25 26
As a result, the official labelling for Feburic (commercial name
of febuxostat in Japan) specifies a stepwise increase in the febux-
ostat dose.
There are two possible ways to reduce gout flares during the
initial period of ULT: colchicine prophylaxis and stepwise dose
increase. Our study is the first to compare these two strategies,
using febuxostat as the urate-lowering drug. As a control, febux-
ostat 40 mg without colchicine prophylaxis and without step-
wise dose increase (group C) was included. For ethical reasons
(to minimise the disadvantage to patients), fewer patients were
randomised to this arm, and all patients were instructed to take
Figure 4  Percentage of patients with serum urate level ≤6.0 mg/dL an NSAID if a flare should occur.
(356.91 µmol/L) in the three randomised groups. Group A (stepwise The result of the primary end point analysis that included the
dose increase of febuxostat from 10 to 40 mg/day), group B (febuxostat correction for multiple comparisons was negative. However, as
40 mg/day plus colchicine 0.5 mg/day) and group C (febuxostat 40 mg/ shown in figure 2, the incidence of gout flares was significantly
day). The number of patients for calculations based on urate data lower in group A (stepwise dose increase) than that in group
at each weekly time point in each group is shown below the figure. C (without stepwise dose increase or colchicine prophylaxis)
*P<0.001 vs group B or group C. and was also significantly lower in group B (low-dose colchicine
prophylaxis) than that in group C. These findings were further
confirmed by comparing incidence of flares between groups A
incidence of ARs among the three groups. Moderate diarrhoea plus B and group C.
was reported in one patient in group B, but not in any patients We found no difference in the incidence or the number of
in group A or group C. gout flares between group A and group B. This suggests that,

Table 2  Incidence of adverse events and adverse reactions by system organ class (safety population)
Total (n=241) Group A (n=96) Group B (n=95) Group C (n=50)
Febuxostat dose increasing Febuxostat
stepwise from 10 to 40 mg 40mg+colchicine Febuxostat 40 mg
Patients (events) % Patients (events) % Patients (events) % Patients (events) %
Adverse events 51 (74) 21.2 21 (35) 21.9 19 (23) 20.0 11 (16) 22.0
 Infections and infestations 25 (35) 10.4 9 (15) 9.4 11 (13) 11.6 5 (7) 10.0
 Neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified 1 (1) 0.4 1 (1) 1.0  –  –
 Metabolism and nutrition disorders 2 (2) 0.8 2 (2) 2.1  –  –
 Vascular disorders 1 (1) 0.4 1 (1) 1.0  –  –
 Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders 4 (6) 1.7 2 (4) 2.1 1 (1) 1.1 1 (1) 2.0
 Gastrointestinal disorders 1 (1) 0.4  – 1 (1) 1.1  –
 Hepatobiliary disorders 5 (5) 2.1 4 (4) 4.2  – 1 (1) 2.0
 Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders 2 (2) 0.8 1 (1) 1.0 1 (1) 1.1  –
 Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders 9 (10) 3.7 4 (5) 4.2 3 (3) 3.2 2 (2) 4.0
 Renal and urinary disorders 2 (2) 0.8 1 (1) 1.0 1 (1) 1.1  –
 Investigations 4 (4) 1.7  – 3 (3) 3.2 1 (1) 2.0
 Injury, poisoning and procedural complications 4 (4) 1.7 1 (1) 1.0  – 3 (3) 6.0
 Surgical and medical procedures 1 (1) 0.4  –  – 1 (1) 2.0
Adverse reactions 21 (24) 8.7 7 (9) 7.3 9 (10) 9.5 5 (5) 10.0
 Infections and infestations 7 (8) 2.9  – 6 (7) 6.3 1 (1) 2.0
 Metabolism and nutrition disorders 1 (1) 0.4 1 (1) 1.0  –  –
 Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders 1 (1) 0.4  – 1 (1) 1.1  –
 Hepatobiliary disorders 4 (4) 1.7 3 (3) 3.1  – 1 (1) 2.0
 Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders 2 (2) 0.8 1 (1) 1.0 1 (1) 1.1  –
 Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders 3 (4) 1.2 2 (3) 2.1  – 1 (1) 2.0
 Renal and urinary disorders 2 (2) 0.8 1 (1) 1.0 1 (1) 1.1  –
 Investigations 1 (1) 0.4  –  – 1 (1) 2.0
 Injury, poisoning and procedural complications 1 (1) 0.4  –  – 1 (1) 2.0
Number of events, tabulated by system organ class (SOC, MedDRA 17.1).

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Clinical and epidemiological research

when introducing ULT with febuxostat, stepwise dose increase Women’s Medical University, Hisashi Yamanaka (principal investigator); 2. Nagoya
of febuxostat is better than the single-dose method and is compa- Rheumatology Clinic, Shigenori Tamaki; 3. Tokyo Center Clinic, Yumiko Ide; 4.
Yokohama Minoru Clinic, Hyeteko Kim; 5. Inoue Clinic, Kouichi Inoue; 6. Syoi-kai
rable with low-dose colchicine prophylaxis for the prevention Medical Association Koganeibashi Sakura Clinic, Masayuki Sugimoto; 7. Taizan-
of gout flares. Because colchicine prophylaxis has been shown kai Medical Association Akasaka Central Clinic, Yuji Hidaka; 8. Taizan-kai Medical
to decrease gout flares during the introduction of allopurinol,34 Association Toranomon Clinic, Mitsuko Akimoto; 9. Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo
stepwise dose increase of febuxostat is also likely to be beneficial Women’s Medical University, Naomi Ichikawa; 10. Sagawa Akira Rheumatology
Clinic, Akira Sagawa; 11. Isei-kai Medical Association Sakaibashi Clinic, Hisayoshi
for gout patients.
Hirota; 12. Jyakuei-kai Medical Association Tanaka Hospital, Tsuneo Tanaka; 13.
Non-inferiority or equivalence testing of gout flares between Kowa-kai Medical Association Jin Orthopedics Clinic, Hiroaki Jin; 14. Koni Clinic,
group A and group B would confirm whether febuxostat step- Ichiro Koni; 15. Seiga-kai Medical Association Momoi Orthopedics Clinic, Yasuharu
wise dose increase is comparable with colchicine prophylaxis in Momoi; 16. Inoue Orthopedics Clinic, Soitiro Inoue; 17. East Sendai Rheumatism and
reducing gout flares. However, such tests were not performed in Internal Medicine Clinic, Tomomasa Izumiyama; 18. Seisyu-kai Medical Association
Yagi Clinic, Hideyuki Yagi; 19. National Hospital Organization Awara Hospital,
the present study because of insufficient sample size. Under the Hiroshi Tsutani; 20. Senoo Hospital, Masayuki Hakoda; 21. Tohoku University
current concept of treat to target, the recommended serum urate Hospital, Tomonori Ishii; 22. Nakashima Hiroshi Clinic,Hiroshi Nakashima; 23. Chiba
level is to be maintained below 6.0 mg/dL (356.91 µmol/L).35 36 Prefectural Togane Hospital, Aizan Hirai.
Under stepwise dose increase, lowering of urate to the target Contributors  All authors have equal responsibility for the manuscript and meet
level (6.0 mg/dL (356.91 µmol/L)) was delayed in group A, but all the authorship requirements. The corresponding author (HY) organised every
by week 12, the same percentage of patients had achieved serum stage of the study, including the naming of the study, and was responsible for
drafting the manuscript. HY, AT, SF and TY participated in the design of the study
urate at or below 6.0 mg/dL (356.91 µmol/L) as in the other two and helped to revise the manuscript. All authors were members of the FORTUNE-1
groups. This suggests that stepwise dose increase is a practical study group, participated in data acquisition and gave suggestions as necessary;
treatment option. This is particularly important because colchi- those suggestions provided the basis for modifications to the manuscript. All authors
cine can be toxic in large amounts,21 37 suggesting that the use have read and approved this revised version of the manuscript for submission. The
corresponding author had full responsibility for the study design, supervised the data
of colchicine should potentially be restricted in patients with collection, had full access to all data, supervised data analysis and was responsible
multiple comorbidities. Thus, we propose stepwise dose increase for submitting the manuscript for publication.
of febuxostat as a useful alternative option to minimise the
Funding  This investigator-initiated study was supported by a grant from Teijin
occurrence of gout flares when starting ULT. Pharma Limited. The sponsors were not involved in the design of the study;
Limitations of this study include the open-label design enrolment of patients; data collection, analysis and interpretation; or preparation of
(patients and investigators were informed of the patient’s treat- the manuscript.
ment arm, which might have affected study results) and the Competing interests  HY reports grants and personal fees from Teijin Pharma,
definition of gout flare (under discussion in the literature38; the Pfizer Japan, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nippon
Kayaku, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Daiichi Sankyo, Astellas
provisional definition39 may not apply in studies of real-world
Pharma, AbbVie, UCB Japan, Ono Pharmaceutical, Ayumi Pharmaceutical, Eisai, Torii
clinical therapy). For this study, we defined gout flares as symp- Pharmaceutical, Taisho Toyama Pharmaceutical and YL Biologics, and grants from
toms of gout requiring NSAID treatment. This definition is not MSD. ST reports personal fees from Teijin Pharma. YH reports personal fees from
universally accepted,37 38 but we consider it reasonably useful for Teijin Pharma, Pfizer Japan, Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho and Fujiyakuhin. AT reports
comparing the incidence of gout flares among three treatment personal fees from Teijin Pharma. SF reports personal fees from Teijin Pharma, Sanwa
Kagaku Kenkyusho, Fujiyakuhin, Astellas Pharma, Kissei Pharmaceutical, Pfizer Japan,
arms in our study. The severity of gout may also be a consider- MSD and Nippon Chemiphar. TY reports personal fees and non-financial support
ation. Japanese patients generally have milder forms of gout than from Teijin Pharma.
patients in the USA or Europe, as measured by the percentage Patient consent  Obtained.
of patients with tophi25 26 or the dose of febuxostat required.40
Ethics approval  The study was approved by the ethics committee of each
The usual dose of febuxostat for lowering serum urate to below investigator’s institute or hospital.
6.0 mg/dL (356.91 µmol/L) is 40 mg/day in Japan and 80 mg/day
Provenance and peer review  Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
in the USA or Europe, perhaps due to smaller body size and
Open Access  This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the
earlier intervention for hyperuricaemia in Japan. Also, the dose
Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which
of colchicine for gout flare prophylaxis in group B was consis- permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially,
tent with Japanese labelling for colchicine but lower than that and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work
in other countries. Thus, the results of this study may not be is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://​creativecommons.​org/​
directly applicable to patients with gout in the USA or Europe. licenses/​by-​nc/​4.​0/
Finally, this study may have failed to meet the primary end point © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the
because of insufficient sample size, especially in group C. This article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise
expressly granted.
should influence the design of future studies.
In conclusion, our results suggested that a stepwise dose
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Yamanaka H, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;0:1–7. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211574 7

 Downloaded from http://ard.bmj.com/ on November 24, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com

Stepwise dose increase of febuxostat is

comparable with colchicine prophylaxis for
the prevention of gout flares during the initial
phase of urate-lowering therapy: results from
FORTUNE-1, a prospective, multicentre
randomised study
Hisashi Yamanaka, Shigenori Tamaki, Yumiko Ide, Hyeteko Kim, Kouichi
Inoue, Masayuki Sugimoto, Yuji Hidaka, Atsuo Taniguchi, Shin Fujimori
and Tetsuya Yamamoto

Ann Rheum Dis published online November 4, 2017

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