A method for treating a subject suffering from refractory rheumatoid arthritis includes the step of administering an effective amount of a quinonemethide triterpenoid or a pharmaceutically tolerable salt, solvate or anhydrate thereof to the subject. Also is a method for inducing autophagy in a synovial fibroblast, and a method of inducing calcium mobilization in a synovial fibroblast. Further a pharmaceutical composition includes an effective dose of a quinonemethide triterpenoid and an anti-arthritis compound. The quinonemethide triterpenoid is suitable to treat refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in particular ABC-protein-dependent RA and apoptosis-deficient RA. The quinonemethide triterpenoid also possesses significant inhibitory effects on the growth of synovial fibroblasts, in particular modulating the calcium homeostasis in multidrug-resistant rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts.