Anti-TNF Therapy Better in Refractory RA | Arthritis Information

PHILADELPHIA -- Joint damage progressed more slowly when rheumatoid arthritis patients who failed initial therapies took biologic agents rather than additional conventional drugs, Swedish researchers said here.

"Under the assumption that an initial trial with methotrexate monotherapy is adequate, the subsequent addition of anti-TNF is superior concerning radiological progression to the addition of the conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS)," said Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, associate professor of rheumatology at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.

He presented the two-year results from the so-called SWEFOT study at a late-breaking research session at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.