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News
For rheumatoid arthritis patients, tofacitinib monotherapy performs just as well as combination therapy in real-world settings. A Dutch retrospective study found no significant difference in treatment persistence between tofacitinib alone and tofacitinib paired with conventional drugs. Only adalimumab combination therapy showed a meaningfully lower risk of discontinuation.
A large real-world study out of the Netherlands suggests that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on tofacitinib don't necessarily need to pair it with conventional drugs to stay on treatment. Researchers analyzed data from six Dutch cohorts and found that tofacitinib monotherapy and tofacitinib combination therapy had similar drug survival — meaning patients were equally likely to stay on the medication regardless of whether it was used alone or alongside conventional synthetic DMARDs.
The one standout? Adalimumab combination therapy showed a statistically lower risk of discontinuation compared to tofacitinib monotherapy. Age also played a role in how well treatments held up over time, while antibody (ACPA) status did not appear to make a difference.
Key Takeaways:
Why it matters: These findings could simplify treatment decisions for RA patients, suggesting that adding conventional DMARDs to tofacitinib may not always be necessary — potentially reducing pill burden and side effect risk without compromising outcomes.
