title: Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis: a quarter century of development.
abstract: Methotrexate (MTX) is now the most popular drug worldwide for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Low-dose, weekly MTX (10 to 25 mg/wk) used as either monotherapy or in combination with other drugs has a superior efficacy profile as defined in placebo-controlled trials and comparable efficacy to other drugs including anti-TNF therapy. At 1 year, one third of patients on MTX have no radiographic progression and even greater effects are seen when combined with targeted biological therapies. MTX is well tolerated; gastrointestinal toxicity is the most common toxicity with rarely bone marrow, lung, or liver toxicity. MTX therapy has been a major advance in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and is now the cornerstone of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. mweinblatt@partners.org
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Weinblatt
mesh_terms: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D008727:Methotrexate