One-on-one With Dr. Dimitrios Pappas: Etanercept as Monotherapy in RA

In today’s one-on-one interview, we talk with Dimitrios A. Pappas, M.D., MPH, scientific director of the Corrona RA Registry and an adjunct professor with Columbia University. He and his team recently published results from the registry in ACR Open Rheumatology which show that rheumatoid arthritis patients may be able to maintain remission or low disease activity with etanercept (Enbrel, Amgen) monotherapy long-term treatment.

"Many patients with RA in this study who achieved remission or low disease activity on combination therapy, maintained remission or low disease activity with etanercept monotherapy for two years after csDMARD discontinuation. This study provides real‐world evidence that etanercept monotherapy may be a viable option for some patients with rheumatoid arthritis who discontinue csDMARDs after achieving remission or low disease activity," he and his colleagues wrote in the journal. In this interview, Dr. Pappas reviews the study and its findings.

But first, this week’s news roundup:

This week we featured a study published in the Journal of Rheumatology in which researchers describe a possible source of pain in fibromyalgia. They wrote that these patients can present with elevated intramuscular pressure which could one day serve as a diagnostic aid infFibromyalgia and a target for treatment.

And, we featured a study published in BMJ Open that shows COX-2 inhibitors may be better than traditional NSAIDS for acute gout. This research has been published before and it is yet another study that offers support for COX-2 to treat acute gout.

From the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers make a case to an individualized approach for women who may need bisphosphonates. They found that in women 50 years and older, the risk of atypical femur fractures increased the longer bisphosphonate were used. You can learn more about their findings and recommendations in our article.

And, from Current Rheumatology Reports, physicians write about an unmet need in axial spondyloarthritis for optimized treatment strategies. Despite advances in the field and more treatment options, there are still many unanswered questions about optimized treatment strategies and the drug of choice per patient.