Immunotherapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

Recently published studies confirm that the long-term use of biological agents targeting TNF-alpha in therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) gives rise to sustained improvement in symptoms and signs of disease, and in the quality of life. Furthermore, it has emerged that anti-TNF therapy protects joints from structural damage, which unexpectedly is also observed in the patient population showing no apparent benefit in control of signs and symptoms. Therapeutic benefit is observed in established disease that is unresponsive to conventional DMARDS and in early DMARDS-naïve RA patients. Thus, for patients with RA, anti-TNF therapies set a new standard for symptom control and joint protection.