More Options for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Reported November 15, 2005
More Options for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling, and limitation in the motion and function of multiple joints. The disease affects nearly 1 million Americans and is expected to affect many more in the future.
TNF inhibitor therapy has often proven successful in reducing the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis. TNF-alpha is a protein produced to mobilize white blood cells to fight infections. These blood cells then build around the infected area causing inflammation. Once the blood cells have destroyed the infection, the TNF-alpha protein is disposed of, the white blood cells no longer mobilize, and the area that was once inflamed returns to normal.
For people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, the body never recognizes the infection has been destroyed. Therefore, the TNF-alpha proteins are never disposed of and white blood cells continuously attack areas in the body creating pain and stiffness for rheumatoid patients.
TNF inhibitor therapy disposes of the proteins and ceases the white blood cell attacks. Yet, for many patients, this therapy has not produced desired results, and there are few other treatment options. At the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego this week, however, two other alternatives were presented.
One of those alternatives, CNTO 148 (golimumab), is a fully human anti-TNFa monoclonal antibody. The treatment improved symptoms in patients with RA in a small study. Jonathan Kay, M.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, says, “The results of this trial demonstrate the potential of CNTO 148 as another therapy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.”
The other treatment, rituximab (Rituxan), is a genetically engineered antibody. This treatment works by selectively depleting B-cells in the body. Researchers followed about 520 patients for six months and found the medication was well tolerated and highly effective. The most common side effects were infusion-related. Stanley B. Cohen, M.D., from Radiant Research-Dallas, says: “While TNF blockers are an extremely beneficial therapy, there are patients who fail to respond or have toxicity to these therapies. For those patients, adding rituximab to the treatment management plan may spell the difference in success.”
SOURCE: American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting 2005 in San Diego, Nov. 8 – Nov. 16, 2005