Key clinical point: Withdrawal of methotrexate leads to better outcomes than withdrawal of etanercept following a stringently determined disease remission.

Major finding: At week 48, 28.7% of the methotrexate-only group were in remission, compared with 49.5% of the etanercept-only group and 52.9% of patients on combined therapy.

Study details: A randomized, controlled trial in which 253 patients were assigned 2:2:1 to withdraw etanercept, withdraw methotrexate, or continue on both drugs.

Disclosures: The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Curtis has received grants or research support from AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Corrona, Janssen, Lilly, Myriad, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, and UCB. Dr. Pope consults for a variety of pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Wahl has no relevant financial disclosures.