Has anyone heard of chemo being used to treat rheumatoid arthritis?
moss l asked:
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I’d be most appreciative to hear from anyone who has undergone chemo recently as part of their treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and if the results were worth the experience.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be treated with chemotherapy. Cyclophosphamide and other agents have been used in past. There has been research on the use of high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant for life-threatening cases. Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against CD20, a protein on the surface of B-lymphocytes, has been used successfully in the treatment of RA. By definition, many of the patients receiving these drugs are having a very difficult time with RA, and unfortunately most will not respond well or for long. I have treated a few patients (as an oncologist for their rheumatologist), and have had some success, some failure. Rituximab is well-tolerated after the first dose infusion reactions are over.
God bless, best wishes
November 27th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I wouldn’t be using chemo to treat rheumatoid arthritis with all the new drugs about to come onto the market in a couple of years. I’m taking part now in a new drug trial and you can check out the trial at google by typing in the drug name called “Golimumab”, and this drug has proven to be very successful world wide in all countries and before I went on it, I couldn’t even shake hands with someone, or slap someone. Now I am a totally new person with no pain what so ever.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:20 am
Methotrexate which is one of the older chemotherapy drugs has been used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis for forty years. When used against RA methotrexate is considered a disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). There are other multi-purpose drugs also used for treating both cancer and RA.
hope this helps
December 1st, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I hope you are not getting confused. All the newer biologic agents that are IV are being called chemo (for billing purposes): Remicade, Orencia and Rituxan.
These are all good agents, along with the other biologic agents, Humira and Enbrel, and can really help control your disease.
Methotrexate is a chemo agent in high doses.
One must understand the risks of the drugs, but not forget the shorter life span and disability related to not treating RA.
Good luck.