BOSTON, Nov 15 (Reuters Health) -- A new drug has been shown to
improve rheumatoid arthritis in more than 70% of children who do not
improve after standard treatment for the disease, US researchers report.
Dr. Daniel J. Lovell, of Children's Hospital Medical Center in
Cincinnati, Ohio, said here at the annual meeting of the American College
of Rheumatology that the drug, etanercept (Enbrel), has greatly improved
the lives of many children and their families. "For 30% of these kids, the
parents said that their kids' activities (had become) normal," he
reported.
In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system reacts against the body's
own tissues to cause joint swelling and pain, and even the destruction of a
joint.
In this study of childhood disease, 69 patients aged 4 to 17 were
treated with Enbrel for 3 months. These children and teenagers had had the
disease for about 5 years. All had stopped treatment with the usual drug,
methotrexate, because of poor response or intolerance, Lovell said.
The 51 patients who showed improvement were randomly assigned to
continue taking Enbrel or to take an inactive (placebo) pill. Patients who
continued on the new drug maintained their improvement, while those who
switched to placebo deteriorated. They improved again when they were
restarted on Enbrel.
There were virtually no side effects from the new drug, Lovell reported.
In separate research presented here, x-ray data from 206 adults with
rheumatoid arthritis showed that Enbrel stopped joint deterioration in 75%
of patients.
In the study of adults with rheumatoid arthritis, the patients were
randomly assigned to receive either Enbrel or methotrexate for 1 year.
Those who received Enbrel twice a week, by injecting themselves, showed
less total joint damage than those who took methotrexate, according to Dr.
Barbara Finck, medical director for Immunex Corporation.
Lovell said that treatment with Enbrel costs $12,000 a year for an
adult. Treatment would cost less for a child because the amount of drug
needed varies with body size.
Enbrel was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in May for
treatment of a common form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It was
approved on November 2 for treatment of severe to moderate rheumatoid
arthritis. Both of the new studies were funded by Immunex Corporation of
Seattle, Washington, the drug's manufacturer.
