Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have been treated with several different drugs, including Enbrel (etanercept) and methotrexate. Now a study conducted in the United Kingdom indicates that treatment with a combination of Enbrel (an anti-TNF), and methotrexate increases the remission rate.
Nearly 550 RA patients from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America, none of whom had used methotrexate, were chosen at random for treatment with methotrexate alone, or with 50 mg. of Enbrel weekly. All of these patients had early moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis for less than 2 years.
Results from the first year of the study shows that close to 50% of the patients receiving the combination of drugs went into remission. 94% of them had at least good to moderate improvements. Conversely, only 28% of the methotrexate only patients went into remission.
The researchers also noted that the combination of drugs stopped disease progression in 80% of the patients, as compared with 59% who took methotrexate alone.
Results were determined by measuring disease activity in 28 joints and progression of the disease identified in X-rays.
Another benefit for patients is that those on the combination therapy had a 300% reduction in work loss compared to methotrexate alone.
The study was led by Professor Paul Emery at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine and was published in the British medical journal The Lancet.
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Originally posted 2008-07-16 22:02:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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