pubmed:abstractText |
Methotrexate (MTX) has become the most commonly prescribed disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the Western countries, the MTX dosage is safely increased to a maximum of 25 mg/wk until a significant response is observed. On the contrary, in Japan, MTX has been approved only as a second-line agent, and the approved maximum MTX dosage is only 8 mg/wk. This suboptimal dosage may affect MTX survival in Japanese RA patients.
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