Precision Medicine in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has substantially improved in recent years due to the development of novel drugs. However, response is not universal for any of the treatment options and selection of an effective therapy is currently based on a trial and error approach. Delayed treatment response increases the risk of progressive joint damage and resultant disability and also has a significant impact on quality of life for patients. The challenge for the future of healthcare is to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from which drug early in their disease and identifying biomarkers that correlate with therapy response is, therefore, a research priority. For many drugs, the patient’s genetic background influences response to therapy and understanding the genetics of response to therapy in RA may allow for targeted personalised healthcare.