Etanercept combination shows promise for rheumatoid arthritis
A combination of etanercept (Enbrel) and methotrexate is more effective than either drug alone in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new study shows
(Lancet 2004;363:675).
The randomised trial involved 682 patients with adult-onset RA. Patients
had to have had a “less than satisfactory” response to at
least one disease modifying drug other than methotrexate. Patients were
allocated to treatment with etanercept (25mg subcutaneously twice a week),
oral methotrexate (up to 20mg every week) or the combination. Clinical
response was assessed by criteria of the American College of Rheumatology.
At six months, ACR symptom relief scores were better for patients given
the combination than for patients treated with single drug therapy. Remission
after one year occurred in 35 per cent of patients in the combination
group compared with 13 per cent on methotrexate and 16 per cent on etanercept.
Of patients receiving combination treatment, 80 per cent had no radiological
progression during the first year of treatment compared with 68 per cent
on methotrexate and 57 per cent on etanercept.
Lead author Lars Klareskog, of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, comments: “This
is the first demonstration that erosions in established RA can improve
over time in a group of patients in a controlled clinical trial, providing
evidence that repair of joints destroyed by the disease may be a biological
and clinical possibility.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal