Summary

Although studies have shown current anti-TNF treatments to be superior to short-term methotrexate (ie, before 24 weeks), none has shown superiority at Week 24. The AMBITION study [NCT00109408] showed that after 24 weeks, tocilizumab (an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody that inhibits IL-6 signaling) monotherapy was clinically superior to methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have not failed previous MTX or biologic treatment.