[Pharmacological management of rheumatoid arthritis: the state of the art and the future perspective].

Pharmacological management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been rapidly progressed in recent years, which is appeared in the "treat to target" movement and the recommendations developed by some established international/domestic rheumatology associations. The baseline evaluation of poor prognostic factors as well as disease activity with composite measures is necessary for a personalized management. Methotrexate is currently the anchor drug, and other conventional or biological antirheumatic drugs should be added to it for refractory patients. The development of various novel agents including signal transduction inhibitors should promote further advances in the management of RA and other systemic autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases.