Precision medicine in rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease: current evidence and future directions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) leads to poor survival, on average only 3-5 years from time of diagnosis. Despite its clinical impact, evidence-based treatment approaches remain limited, creating urgent clinical uncertainty about optimal management strategies. This review examines emerging precision medicine approaches that may guide more effective, individualized treatment decisions. RECENT FINDINGS: Current treatment paradigms based on radiologic patterns lack empirical validation, with recent evidence suggesting radiologic features poorly predict immunomodulatory response. Advances in RA joint precision medicine using synovial biopsy and RNA sequencing have identified molecular endotypes predicting differential treatment response, establishing a framework that could be applied to RA-ILD. Emerging biomarkers including leukocyte telomere length, circulating proteomics, and lung-based systems biology show promise for identifying RA-ILD molecular heterogeneity and guiding treatment selection. SUMMARY: Progress in RA-ILD precision medicine requires multimodal approaches integrating molecular phenotyping with targeted therapeutic trials. Lessons from RA joint precision medicine suggest accessing the disease compartment directly through bronchoscopy may provide crucial information beyond peripheral biomarkers. Prospective biomarker-stratified trials are urgently needed to overcome clinical equipoise and improve outcomes for this challenging condition.