A biomarker panel might someday tell the rheumatologist which of two treatment choices is best for each individual patient. “Today, we can personalize treatment to a certain degree, but not that much,” he said. “I think we have to be honest that we are still quite far from our goal of having truly personalized treatment for each patient.”
How far away is it? “They keep saying it’s about five years away. I’m going to be careful about saying more than that. But in medical research some things happen in leaps and bounds. With so much research going on in this area, maybe a breakthrough is coming.”
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Larry Beresford is an Oakland, Calif.-based freelance medical journalist.
References
- Van Vollenhoven RF. Unresolved issues in biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2011 Apr;7(4):205–215.
- Van Vollenhoven RF. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: State of the art 2009. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2009 Oct;5(10):531–541.
- Pavlov VA, Tracey KJ. Neural circuitry and immunity. Immunol Res. 2015 Dec;63(1–3):38–57.
- Werner SG, Langer HE, Ohrndorf S, et al. Inflammation assessment in patients with arthritis using a novel in vivo fluorescence optical imaging technology. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012 Apr;71(4):504–510.
