Remission Realized: Achieving Disease Control in Your Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

A panel of medical experts introduce themselves before diving into a discussion about remission achievement in rheumatoid arthritis.

A panel of medical experts discuss how clinical guidelines currently define clinical remission, as well as the clinical and economic benefits associated with clinical remission.

A panel of medical experts discuss the prevalence and management of poorly controlled rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice.

A panel of medical experts discuss complications and prognostic factors in uncontrolled rheumatoid arthritis.

A panel of medical experts explore how to evaluate and adjust rheumatoid arthritis treatment by adhering to ACR guidelines for conventional synthetic DMARDs and advanced therapies, focusing on optimizing patient care and treatment outcomes.

Medical experts explore how patient perceptions of rheumatoid arthritis can differ from disease activity assessments and provide an example of hidden symptoms revealed through further probing, along with the impact of therapy adjustments on achieving remission.

Experts discuss strategies for achieving low disease activity or remission in patients, including steps taken in clinical practice and methods for managing patient expectations regarding treatment outcomes.

Experts discuss American College of Rheumatology guidelines on transitioning patients from TNF inhibitors to non-TNF targeted therapies like Janus kinase inhibitors, as well as factors influencing treatment switching decisions in clinical practice.

Panelists discuss advanced treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis, focusing on the SELECT-COMPARE trial's head-to-head data of upadacitinib versus adalimumab, the use of upadacitinib in active RA refractory to biologics (SELECT-BEYOND trial), and the remission rates of upadacitinib compared to abatacept (SELECT-CHOICE trial).

Panelists discuss how head-to-head clinical trial data shape their treatment decisions, the significance of consistent remission rates across different patient populations, and the frequency with which remission data influence their choices to switch therapies.

Panelists discuss how JAK inhibitors and TNF inhibitors differ in administration, efficacy, and safety due to their unique characteristics and mechanisms of action, with further variations in binding activities within the TNFi class impacting clinical outcomes.

Panelists discuss how the varying selectivity of JAK inhibitors—such as tofacitinib's broad inhibition of JAK1/JAK2/JAK3, baricitinib's inhibition of JAK1/JAK2, and upadacitinib's focus on JAK1—affects dose-related toxicity and overall treatment safety.

Panelists discuss how switching to a biologic with a different mechanism of action can enhance clinical outcomes in patients with inadequate responses to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors.

Panelists discuss how continued cycling of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) without achieving remission can lead to complications like irreversible joint erosion, significantly diminishing patient quality of life, and explore why providers may persist with TNFis despite failure, access barriers to switching mechanisms of action, and treatment considerations for patients whose initial positive response to TNFis declines over time.

Panelists discuss how the findings from the ORAL Surveillance study regarding cardiovascular and cancer risks associated with tofacitinib have influenced perceptions of JAK inhibitors, emphasizing the need to balance safety concerns with their efficacy in managing rheumatoid arthritis.

Panelists discuss how their approaches to treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis focus on personalized strategies that prioritize achieving remission while carefully monitoring safety and efficacy outcomes.