Commentary on Cohen et al.: Role of Clinical Factors in Precision Medicine Test to Predict Nonresponse to TNFi Therapies in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

A 2021 study described the development and validation of a blood-based precision medicine test called the molecular signature response classifier (MSRC) that uses 23 features to identify rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who are likely nonresponders to tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor (TNFi) therapy. Both the gene expression features and clinical components (sex, body mass index, patient global assessment, and anti-cyclic citrullinated protein) included in the MSRC were statistically significant contributors to MSRC results. In response to continued inquiries on this topic, we write this letter to provide additional insights into the contribution of clinical components to the MSRC on the Network-004 validation cohort.