EULAR 2014: Research on Rheumatoid Arthritis, Spondyloarthritis

Two other trials, he said, showed that TNF inhibitors slowed radiographic progression in AS patients. The studies “re-open the debate” on whether TNF blockers affect new bone formation, but they were troubled by methodological problems, including different baseline characteristics of patient groups and the use of historical controls, rather than simultaneous controls, Dr. Baeten said.^14,15

“If the effects are there, they’re not very large and there is still a debate [about] whether there really is any effect at all,” he said. “For me, the main question is, how can we address [this] in the next year and come up with cleaner designs, cleaner studies, that will help us?”

Thomas R. Collins is a freelance medical writer based in Florida.

References

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