As last year, a consensus group to consider the use of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blocking agents was formed by an organising committee constituted of rheumatologists from the Universities of Erlangen, Leiden and Vienna in Europe in cooperation with universities in the United States. Pharmaceutical support was obtained from a number of companies, but these institutions had no part in the decisions regarding this specific programme nor with regard to the participants or attendees at this conference.

The approximately 100 rheumatologists and bioscientists from 25 countries who attended the consensus conference were chosen from a worldwide group of people felt to have experience or interest in the use of TNF blocking treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Unfortunately, the number of attendees and participants were limited so that not everyone who might have been appropriate could be invited.

During the past year increasing amounts of data on the use of TNF blocking agents in RA have been published. Consequently it was felt appropriate to update the provisional consensus statement published last year (Ann Rheum Dis 1999;58 (suppl 1):I129–30).

During this revision it became clear that there are still large areas where knowledge is lacking. In an effort to clarify, for the readers, evidence on which the consensus statement is based, statements with supporting data have been referenced.

When a statement is not referenced it will have arisen from the consensus process: small group discussions, large group discussions and repeated drafts of the consensus statement to allow input from all participants. We feel that this statement represents an updated, although still provisional, consensus view of the use of TNF blockade in RA. However, it will require …