Referred to as‘one of the fastest growing areas of research over the past decade’, the study of cytokines certainly appears to be holding its ground. Numerous presentations at the 13th European Congress of Rheumatology [Amsterdam, The Netherlands; June 1995] bore testimony to the sustained interest in developing cytokine antagonists as therapy for autoimmune diseases. At present, the greatest potential appears to lie with antibodies to tumour necrosis factor-&agr; (TNF-&agr;) and the use of soluble receptors for TNF-&agr; and interleukin-1 (IL-1).