RITUXIMAB: NEW POTENTIALITIES OF THERAPY FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Some patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are unresponsive or intolerant to both synthetic first-line anti-inflammatory drugs (FLAID) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) а inhibitors already included into all the treatment standards. Along with the conventional methods for overcoming drug resistance - switching to another FLAID or another TNF а blocker, the use of biologicals with another mechanism of action rather than suppression of TNF а gives a good account of itself. Prominent among these agents is the anti-B-cell drug rituximab. The new possibilities of the therapy, which open up the use of rituximab in patients with RA, are discussed.