Table 3.

PDN treatment regimens in four well-designed RCTs at low risk of bias

		Initial dose and duration	Subsequent dose and duration (tapering)
Teeninga (2013) [40]	Arm 1 (3-month group)	60 mg/m2 daily for 6 weeks	40 mg/m2 AD for 6 weeks followed by placebo AD for 12 weeks
	Arm 2 (6-month group)	60 followed by *50 mg/m2daily for total 6 weeks *Switch to trial medication at remission	40 and 20 mg/m2 AD for 4 weeks each followed by 10 mg/m2 AD for 10 weeks
Sinha (2015) [39]	Arm 1 (3-month group)	2 mg/kg daily for 6 weeks	1.5 mg/kg AD for 6 weeks followed by placebo AD for 12 weeks
	Arm 2 (6-month group)	2 mg/kg daily for 6 weeks	1.5 mg/kg AD for 6 weeks followed by 1, 0.75, and 0.5 mg/kg AD for 4 weeks each
Yoshikawa (2015) [41]	Arm 1 (2-month group)	60 mg/m2 daily for 4 weeks (Max. 80 mg)	40 mg/m2 AD for 4 weeks (Max. 50 mg)
	Arm 2 (6-month group)	60 mg/m2 daily for 4 weeks (Max. 80 mg)	60, 45, 30, 15, and 7.5 mg/m2 AD for 4 weeks each (Max. 80, 60, 40, 20, and 10 mg each)
Webb (2019) [42]	Arm 1 (2-month group)	60 mg/m2 daily for 4 weeks (Max. 80 mg)	40 mg/m2 AD for 4 weeks (Max. 60 mg)
	Arm 2 (4-month group)	60 mg/m2 daily for 4 weeks (Max. 80 mg)	60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 mg/m2 AD for 2 weeks each (Max. 80 at start)

AD on alternate days