Benefits of anti-TNF treatment for psoriatic arthritis highlighted by study

This study was significant as it utilised data from patients in a real-world setting, rather than controlled test conditions. This provides doctors with a clearer view of how drugs work in routine clinical practice.A total of 420 biologic-naive patients with psoriatic arthritis, who were beginning treatment with the anti-TNF therapies adalimumab, etanercept or infliximab, were enrolled in the trial, with their progress followed over four years.Attention was paid to drug survival rates - the number of people remaining on treatment after a given period - as well as how many of the patients continued to rely on glucocorticoid therapy at the same time.Long-term benefits After four years, around 51 per cent of patients remained users of the first anti-TNF therapy they were prescribed. This rate was significantly higher for etanercept at 58.9 per cent than it was for adalimumab (43.9 per cent) or infliximab (44 per cent).Patients taking etanercept also had the lowest rate of drug discontinuation, with female sex being the strongest predictor of needing to stop treatment.It was also shown that patients' average daily dose of prednisone significantly decreased over time, with the proportion of patients taking glucocorticoids falling to 36.5 per cent at two years, 29.9 per cent at three years and 22.6 per cent at four years.The researchers concluded: "In real-world settings, TNF inhibitors showed a high rate of drug survival at four years. Further, the need for glucocorticoid...
Source: Arthritis Research UK - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: news