Six‐month results of a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial of etanercept treatment in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

This study shows that on a short-term basis (3 months), treatment with etanercept is clearly efficacious in patients with active AS who are receiving NSAID therapy but not DMARDs or steroids. After cessation of therapy, almost all patients experienced a relapse within a few weeks. Thus, it seems probable that etanercept must be administered continuously in most AS patients to achieve permanent inhibition of the inflammatory process.