Spondyloarthritis & psoriatic arthritis
Progression from oligoarticular to polyarticular psoriatic arthritis and apremilast as a disease modifier: Novel insights from FOREMOST
Primary result · Progression from oligoarticular to polyarticular PsAResult — go to the resultOdds ratio 0.42 95% CI 0.22–0.77Authors' conclusion
Initiating apremilast treatment during the early, oligoarticular phase of PsA reduced disease activity and delayed progression to polyarticular disease, with benefits maintained with up to 48 weeks of treatment.
Study context
- Population
- Early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (mean duration 9.9 months) with limited joint involvement (>1 to ≤4 swollen and >1 to ≤4 tender joints; not confirmed by imaging)291 received ≥1 apremilast dose
- Participants
- 308 participants
- Comparison
- Apremilast vs placebo for 24 weeks, then open-label apremilast through week 48
- Primary endpoint
- Progression from oligoarticular (≤4 active joints) to polyarticular (>4 active joints) PsA, and its predictors and the effect of apremilast
- Follow-up
- Week 16
Methodological detailsplacebo-controlled, open-label apremilast through week 48, multivariable logistic regression
- Placebo-controlled
- Open-label apremilast through week 48
- Multivariable logistic regression
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Progression from oligoarticular to polyarticular PsA
Odds ratio
0.42
95% CI 0.22–0.77
Apremilastvs Placebo
OR 0.42 (95% CI 0.22–0.77)
- Oligoarticular PsA at baseline
- 268/308 [87.0%]
- Progressed to polyarticular PsA by week 16 (data as observed)
- 25.1% (59/235)
Further findings
Predictors of progression in placebo-treated patients · week 16
- Female, OR
- 3.35 [1.20, 9.34] (95% CI)
- csDMARD-naïve, OR
- 3.42 [1.18, 9.93] (95% CI)
- Dactylitis, OR
- 9.26 [1.32, 65.09] (95% CI)
Disease progression and disease activity/clinical signs and symptoms with apremilast · up to 48 weeks
- Low rates of disease progression and improvements in disease activity/clinical signs and symptoms maintained
Original publication
Progression from oligoarticular to polyarticular psoriatic arthritis and apremilast as a disease modifier: Novel insights from FOREMOST. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 1 July 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →