New treatments for osteoarthritis must be based on evidence

Globally, osteoarthritis is one of the most common medical conditions, causing joint pain for millions of people. Trials of medical treatments for osteoarthritis seek to manage symptoms, primarily joint pain, and disease modification—ie, stopping progression. In some European countries, such as Germany, low-dose radiation therapy is used in routine clinical practice and believed by many to be effective for osteoarthritis; however, in the UK such therapy would be considered an experimental treatment. Following on from their previous two studies that did not meet their primary endpoints at 3 months,

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Cornelia van den Ende and colleagues report in The Lancet Rheumatology the follow-up results of these two randomised sham-controlled trials of low-dose radiation therapy in patients with hand and knee osteoarthritis.

From these extended follow-up data, the authors suggest a lack of evidence for any clinically significant delayed response to treatment up to 1 year.