Which Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Improve Most With Enbrel?

Question: Which Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Improve Most With Enbrel?

Enbrel was first approved by the FDA in 1998. It took a little time to sort out who would be most helped by Enbrel -- the first drug in a new class known as biologic response modifiers or more specifically, TNF blockers. Patients with longstanding disease were often told it was too late -- their rheumatoid arthritis was too advanced for Enbrel to have any significant effect. This many years later, what has been learned about who is most helped by Enbrel?

Answer:

Is Enbrel Equally Effective for All Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients?

To determine who is most helped by Enbrel treatments, researchers considered patients with moderate or severe rheumatoid arthritis in early and late stages of the disease. Data, from the TEMPO trial (Trial of Etanercept and Methotrexate With Radiographic Patient Outcomes) and the Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Trials, was used.

Researchers concluded that those with severe rheumatoid arthritis showed significant improvement with high-dose methotrexate, with Enbrel, or a combination of both. However, similarly treated patients with moderate rheumatoid arthritis were able to achieve overall lower disease levels when compared to patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis. These results did not hinge on how long a patient had rheumatoid arthritis.

Point to Remember

Patients with either moderate or severe rheumatoid arthritis benefit from treatment with Enbrel and/or methotrexate -- regardless of how long they have had the disease. Patients with moderate disease seem to have the best outcomes.

_Source:

Patients with Moderate Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Achieve Better Disease Activity States with Etanercept Treatment Than Patients with Severe RA. The Journal of Rheumatology March 1, 2009 vol. 36 no. 3 522-531. Keystone et al.
http://jrheum.org/content/36/3/522.abstract