TRACE RA – what is this?

02/05/08: NRAS

TRACE RA – what is this?

Overview...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD). This is thought to be due to accelerated atherosclerotic coronary heart disease (CHD), possibly occurring due to a combination of systemic inflammation augmenting an adverse cardiovascular risk profile.
Statins have a proven beneficial effect in reducing CVD events and mortality in at-risk populations, mostly due to their cholesterol-lowering properties, but also possibly through anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Whether such benefit occurs in a high-grade inflammatory condition such as RA remains unknown, because such patients have been systematically excluded from previous statin trials.

Our goal...

This prospective, 5-year, multi-centre, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial will assess the hypothesis that atorvastatin is more effective than placebo in the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with RA*. All patients will receive lifestyle modification advice. Patients already receiving or requiring statin therapy for secondary prevention or whose managing physician thinks they should be on a statin for an existing indication will be excluded.

Sub study...

A nested sub-study (TRACE RA-DAS) will investigate the hypothesis that atorvastatin is more effective than placebo as adjunctive therapy in reducing RA disease activity. Patients enrolled in TRACE RA-DAS will have moderately or severely active disease at the time that they are recruited to the main study.

This trial is supported by: arc - The Arthritis Research Council and the British Heart Foundation

As at 16th April 2008

Centre Summary

Number of Centres expressed a keen interest: 60

Number of Centres with Regulatory Approvals: 34

Number of Centres Initiated: 29

Number of Centres Recruiting: 11

To find out more, please visit: http://www.dgoh.nhs.uk/tracera

To view the latest TRACE RA newsletter click here

Centres which are currently recruiting or are ready to recruit

Name of Hospital

Name of Trust

Principal Investigator

Altnagelvin Hospital

Western Health and Social Care Trust

Dr Phil Gardiner

Arrowepark Hospital

Wirral Hospital NHS Trust

Dr Emmanuel George

Aintree University Hospital

Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Nicky Goodson

Cannock Chase Hospital

Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Diarmuid Mulherin

Christchurch Hospital

Royal Bournemouthand Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Neil Hopkinson

City Hospital

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Deva Situnayake

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Chris Deighton

Freeman Hospital

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr David Walker

Glasgow Royal Infirmary

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Dr David McCarey

Haywood Hospital

University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust

Dr Jonathan Packham

Hemel Hempstead Hospital

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Adam Young

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

Dr Richard Watts

Kingsmill Hospital

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr David Walsh

Macclesfield General Hospital

East Cheshire NHS Trust

Dr Susan Knight

Manchester Royal Infirmary

Central Manchester and Manchester Childrens University Hospital NHS Trust

Dr Ian Bruce

Ninewells Hospital

NHS Tayside

Dr Tom Pullar

North Hampshire Hospital

Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation |Trust

Dr Peter Prouse

Poole Hospital

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Selwyn Richards

Queen's Hospital

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust

Professor Kuntal Chakravarty

Royal Glamorgan Hospital

Pontypridd and Rhondda NHS Trust

Dr Ceril Rhys-Dillon

Royal Lancaster Infirmary

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust

Dr Marwan Bukhari

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr George Papasavvas

Russells Hall Hospital

Dudley Group of Hospitals

Dr Rainer Klocke

Selly Oak Hospital

University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Elizabeth Rankin

Solihull Hospital

Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Arvind Sinha

Southend Hospital

Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Prof Bhaskar Dasgupta

Southmead Hospital

North Bristol NHS Trust

Dr Paul Creamer

Trafford General Hospital

Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust

Dr Frank McKenna

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

Dr Maggie Allen and Dr Alec Price-Forbes

University Hospital Durham

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Namita Kumar

Wexham Park Hospital

Heatherwood and Wexham Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Matthew Adler

Withington Community Hospital

University Hospital South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Paul Sanders

Worcestershire Hospital

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Iain Rowe