NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 09 - Etanercept(Enbrel) is a safe and effective adjunct to, or a replacement for, sulfasalazine in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients showing an inadequate response to treatment with sulfasalazine alone, researchers report in the July issue of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Dr. Joseph Wajdula of Wyeth Research, Collegeville, Pennsylvania and colleagues came to this conclusion after studying 254 RA patients who were randomized to switch to etanercept, receive etanercept in addition to sulfasalazine or to continue with sulfasalazine alone.
The addition of etanercept or switching to etanercept led to a rapid and sustained improvement of all clinical efficacy endpoints compared with sulfasalazine alone.
At 2 years, American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, disease activity scores were 2.8 in the etanercept group, 2.5 in the combination group and 4.5 in sulfasalazine patients. Corresponding percentages for ACR20 scores were 67%, 77% and 34%.
Patient-reported outcomes were similar, with a clinically significant improvement in health assessment questionnaire responses reported by 76%, 78% and 40%.
Some 26 patients (52%) receiving sulfasalazine withdrew from the study because of lack of efficacy, compared to 6% of patients in the etanercept groups. Discontinuation because of adverse events was not significantly different among the groups.
"Etanercept either alone or added to existing sulfasalazine therapy," the researchers conclude, "is associated with a favorable risk benefit profile, thus broadening the range of options for the treatment of patients with active RA."
Ann Rheum Dis 2009;68:1146-1152.
[quote]"Etanercept ...," the researchers conclude, "is associated with a favorable risk benefit profile, ...."[/quote]