ROME -- Cutting rheumatoid arthritis patients' etanercept (Enbrel) doses in half after they achieved remission cut adverse and treatment costs dramatically without compromising the clinical effectiveness of maintenance therapy, a researcher reported here.
In a prospective, controlled study, disease activity remained low in 81.6% of patients put on low-dose etanercept (25 mg once weekly) for a mean of 2.6 years after achieving remission on the standard dose (25 mg twice weekly) -- virtually the same rate as in patients maintained without dose reduction.
At the same time, infection rates were reduced significantly, according to Bernd Raffeiner, MD, of the University of Padova in Italy, who presented the findings at a platform presentation here at the European League Against Rheumatism annual meeting.
Moreover, switching to a low-dose maintenance regimen reduced annual treatment costs by an average of €562,000 annually (5,000) relative to the standard-dose regimen.
Raffeiner and colleagues studied the two maintenance strategies in 217 RA patients in remission for at least one year on standard-dose etanercept.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/20842