 The goal of this pilot study will be to assess the safety and tolerability of etanercept in DM.We will perform a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of etanercept in 40 patients with DM randomized in a 3:1 ratio to receive etanercept or placebo. All newly diagnosed and untreated patients will be started on a standard dose of prednisone and tapering schedule. Refractory patients who have been or are currently being treated with prednisone, IVIG, or methotrexate can also participate. Subjects will be followed for 1 year and we will assess various outcome variables recommended by the The International Myositis Assessment Clinical Study Group IMACS. The primary aim of the study is to preliminarily assess the safety and tolerability of etanercept in patients with DM. We hypothesize that etanercept will be safe and well tolerated in this population. The second aim is to assess the safety and tolerability of prednisone in the dosing schedule we propose to use. We hypothesize that most patients will be able to tolerate the reduction of the prednisone dosage but most will not be able to be completely weaned off the medication. We believe we will find a relationship between prednisone dosage and its related side effects. The third aim of the study is to assess the variability, reliability, and responsiveness of the outcome measures recommended by IMACS using this pilot study of etanercept as the vehicle. The information gained from this study is necessary in order to design larger therapeutic trials of etanercept and other drugs in dermatomyositis. 