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Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases in the world and is characterized by the chronic inflammation of the synovial joints.The origin of the disease is unknown but it is actually accepted that it is caused by the complex interaction of a genetic susceptibility background and environmental factors.This lack of knowledge,however,has not prevented the development of pharmacological treatments that can efficiently control the progression of the disease.The clearest exponent of this success has been the treatment of active RA through the neutralization of Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) cytokine.However,more recently approved alternative biological therapies like rituximab,abatacept or tozilizumab are also clearly beneficial for the patient.As with the established anti-TNF alpha therapies,it is clear that not all patients will have the same level of clinical improvement with all these treatments.Therefore,one of the actual main goals in RA therapeutical management is to identify a reliable system that can predict response to these treatments.Several systems have been assayed for the prediction of clinical response to biological therapies in RA patients.The most direct approach,the measurement of clinical variables at the beginning of treatment,has been found to be a weak predictor of the type of response.