A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) illustrated that tanezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, can minimize pain and lead to significant functional improvements in people suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. Bocheng Zhang et al. aimed to investigate tanezumab's safety and efficacy for osteoarthritis management.

Also, the correlation between tanezumab and rapidly progressive osteoarthritis events was determined. Databases such as Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and PubMed were extensively explored for trials that compared tanezumab with placebo or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in people suffering from osteoarthritis. Notably, 2 researchers identified the relevant studies. Independent extraction of data was done.

Using Review Manager 5.3, conventional meta-analyses were carried out. Functional improvement, pain alleviation, and the risk of noxious events were the endpoints ascertained. The study incorporated eight articles, comprising nine RCTs. In terms of functional improvement, pain reduction, and improvement in the patient's global assessment, tanezumab demonstrated superiority over placebo. Tanezumab exhibited few advantages over NSAIDs for alleviating pain and improving function.

Following tanezumab therapy, significantly more people discontinued therapy due to adverse events. But, there were no profound differences in severe noxious events and total joint replacement. Furthermore, tanezumab-treated people witnessed considerably more rapid advancement of osteoarthritis. Tanezumab did not elicit severe side effects.

However, rapid progression of osteoarthritis was reported to occur in a small number of people. Thus, more robust trials are warranted to investigate tanezumab's safety.