title: Recent advances in anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: focus on the soluble TNF receptor p75 fusion protein, etanercept.
abstract: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is the dominant mediator of the cytokine cascade that causes inflammation and joint detruction in rheumatoid arthritis. A new class of agents under investigation, the biological TNF inhibitors, inhibit the activity of TNF. Recombinant human TNF receptor p75 Fc fusion protein (TNFR:Fc; etanercept) blocks the activity of the cytokine TNF. The preclinical and pivotal trials evaluating etanercept in rheumatoid arthritis are reviewed in this article.
authors.affiliation: Arthritis Clinical Intervention Program, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-7201, USA. larry.moreland@ccc.uab.edu
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Moreland