RESEARCH - Enbrel safe and effective long term for RA

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Medscape

From Reuters Health Information

Etanercept Safe and Effective Long Term for Rheumatoid Arthritis

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 02 - Treatment with etanercept (Enbrel)

beyond 10 years is safe and effective for patients with early and

long-standing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to findings

published in the October 18th online Arthritis Care & Research.

Several studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the tumor

necrosis factor (TNF) blocker etanercept in the treatment of patients

with early rheumatoid arthritis or moderate to severe long-standing

rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. E. Weinblatt from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and

Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts and colleagues evaluated the

long-term safety of etanercept in an open-label extension study of 468

early RA patients and 581 long-standing RA patients.

One hundred sixty-three early RA patients and 264 long-standing RA

patients were followed through year 10, and the median duration of

etanercept exposure was 7.2 years for early RA patients and 6.3 years

for long-standing RA patients.

The exposure-adjusted rate of serious adverse events per 100

patient-years was 12.1 for early RA patients and 18.4 for

long-standing RA patients.

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Read the full article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/731799

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