Investigation of rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility genes identifies association of AFF3 and CD226 variants with response to anti-tumour necrosis factor treatment.

Background: Anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy has proved to be highly successful in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although 30-40% of patients have little or no response. The authors hypothesise that this may be genetically determined. In other complex diseases, susceptibility genes have been shown to influence treatment response.