Background: An important goal in medicine is to provide patients with individualised and personalised treatment. Personalised medicine is making an important contribution.
Aim: To summarise developments in the field of personalised medicine in rheumatology.
Method: We review the results so far and discuss what developments we can expect in the future.
Results: In rheumatology there have been advances in three main areas: 1. therapeutic drug monitoring (measuring medication levels and using the results as a guide for further treatment); 2. the use of biomarkers to determine which drugs should be selected or which should be stopped; 3. involvement of the patient's own observations concerning treatment options.
Conclusion: Personalised medicine is being used increasingly in rheumatology.