Bluhm, G. B. The treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with gold. Semin. Arthritis Rheum. 5, 147–166 (1975).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Bunch, T. W. & O’Duffy, J. D. Disease-modifying drugs for progressive rheumatoid arthritis. Mayo Clin. Proc. 55, 161–179 (1980).

CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Lee, D. M. & Weinblatt, M. E. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet 358, 903–911 (2001).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Hoes, J. N., Jacobs, J. W. G., Buttgereit, F. & Bijlsma, J. W. J. Current view of glucocorticoid co-therapy with DMARDs in rheumatoid arthritis. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 6, 693–702 (2010).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Doumen, M., Pazmino, S., Bertrand, D., Westhovens, R. & Verschueren, P. Glucocorticoids in rheumatoid arthritis: balancing benefits and harm by leveraging the therapeutic window of opportunity. Joint Bone Spine 90, 105491 (2023).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Weinstein, G. D. Methotrexate. Ann. Intern. Med. 86, 199–204 (1977).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Tugwell, P., Bennett, K. & Gent, M. Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis. Indications, contraindications, efficacy, safety. Ann. Intern. Med. 107, 358–366 (1987).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Weinblatt, M. E. & Kremer, J. M. Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 19, 126–128 (1988).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Fries, J. F., Williams, C. A., Ramey, D. & Bloch, D. A. The relative toxicity of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Arthritis Rheum. 36, 297–306 (1993).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Shergy, W. J. et al. Methotrexate-associated hepatotoxicity: retrospective analysis of 210 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Am. J. Med. 85, 771–774 (1988).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Smyth, C. J. Therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. A pyramidal plan. Postgrad. Med. 51, 31–39 (1972).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Fries, J. F. Safety issues related to DMARD therapy. J. Rheumatol. Suppl. 25, 14–17 (1990).

CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Aletaha, D. & Smolen, J. S. Diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis: a review. JAMA 320, 1360–1372 (2018).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Aletaha, D. et al. Reporting disease activity in clinical trials of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: EULAR/ACR collaborative recommendations. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 67, 1360–1364 (2008).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Felson, D. T. et al. American College of Rheumatology/European League against Rheumatism provisional definition of remission in rheumatoid arthritis for clinical trials. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 70, 404–413 (2011).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Østergaard, M. et al. Certolizumab pegol, abatacept, tocilizumab or active conventional treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis: 48-week clinical and radiographic results of the investigator-initiated randomised controlled NORD-STAR trial. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 82, 1286–1295 (2023).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Verschueren, P. et al. Effectiveness of methotrexate with step-down glucocorticoid remission induction (COBRA Slim) versus other intensive treatment strategies for early rheumatoid arthritis in a treat-to-target approach: 1-year results of CareRA, a randomised pragmatic open-label superiority trial. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 76, 511–520 (2017).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Gottenberg, J.-E. et al. Non-TNF-targeted biologic vs a second anti-TNF drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis in patients with insufficient response to a first anti-TNF drug: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA 316, 1172–1180 (2016).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Porter, D. et al. Tumour necrosis factor inhibition versus rituximab for patients with rheumatoid arthritis who require biological treatment (ORBIT): an open-label, randomised controlled, non-inferiority, trial. Lancet 388, 239–247 (2016).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Sokka, T. & Pincus, T. Rheumatoid arthritis: strategy more important than agent. Lancet 374, 430–432 (2009).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Smolen, J. S. et al. Treating rheumatoid arthritis to target: 2014 update of the recommendations of an international task force. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 75, 3–15 (2016).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Smolen, J. S. & Aletaha, D. Forget personalised medicine and focus on abating disease activity. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 72, 3–6 (2013).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Pincus, T., Gibson, K. A. & Castrejón, I. Update on methotrexate as the anchor drug for rheumatoid arthritis. Bull. Hosp. Jt Dis. 71, S9–S19 (2013).

Google Scholar 

Di Matteo, A., Bathon, J. M. & Emery, P. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet 402, 2019–2033 (2023).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Takeuchi, T. Biomarkers as a treatment guide in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin. Immunol. 186, 59–62 (2018).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Aletaha, D. Precision medicine and management of rheumatoid arthritis. J. Autoimmun. 110, 102405 (2020).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Wientjes, M. H. M., den Broeder, A. A., Welsing, P. M. J., Verhoef, L. M. & van den Bemt, B. J. F. Prediction of response to anti-TNF treatment using laboratory biomarkers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review. RMD Open 8, e002570 (2022).

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Humby, F. et al. Rituximab versus tocilizumab in anti-TNF inadequate responder patients with rheumatoid arthritis (R4RA): 16-week outcomes of a stratified, biopsy-driven, multicentre, open-label, phase 4 randomised controlled trial. Lancet 397, 305–317 (2021).

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Rivellese, F. et al. Rituximab versus tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis: synovial biopsy-based biomarker analysis of the phase 4 R4RA randomized trial. Nat. Med. 28, 1256–1268 (2022).

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Burmester, G. R. & Pope, J. E. Novel treatment strategies in rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet 389, 2338–2348 (2017).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Felson, D. T. et al. American College of Rheumatology. Preliminary definition of improvement in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 38, 727–735 (1995).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Konzett, V., Kerschbaumer, A., Smolen, J. S. & Aletaha, D. Determination of the most appropriate ACR response definition for contemporary drug approval trials in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 83, 58–64 (2024).

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Smolen, J. S. & Aletaha, D. Rheumatoid arthritis therapy reappraisal: strategies, opportunities and challenges. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 11, 276–289 (2015).

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Lin, C. M. A., Cooles, F. A. H. & Isaacs, J. D. Precision medicine: the precision gap in rheumatic disease. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 18, 725–733 (2022).