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IL-6 Inhibition in Refractory Systemic Sclerosis
A small, single-center cohort analysis of difficult, refractory systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients showed that treatment with tocilizumab (TCZ), an interleukin-6 inhibitor, resulted in significant improvement in joint and skin involvement, regardless of SSc disease duration or subtype.
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RheumNow Podcast – Do More DMARDs Mean More Switching? (9.17.2021)
Smartphones and diet; COVID-19 and the numbers - reassuring or not, and what about masks?; and do more drugs mean more switching, less persistence, and patient adherence goes up...or down? All this and more news and journal reports in this week's episode.
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Different Regimens but Equal Outcomes in Polyarticular JIA
CARRA (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance) has compared 3 different treatment strategies for polyarticular JIA to identify the optimal time to biologic regimen.
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RheumNow Podcast – High Science and Future Treatments (9.10.2021)
This week: high science that affect future treatments; breakthrough infections in our patients, and what's up with that; and soon your radiologist is going to be replaced by AI. This and more in our review of the news and journal articles from the past week.
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Lymphoma in RA: Disease Activity Matters
Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the strongest risk factors for the development of lymphoma were disease activity and severity, French researchers found.
In a multivariate analysis, having a high Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) at baseline conferred twice the risk for lymphoma, with an odds ratio of 2.09 (95% CI 1.41-3.38), according to Gaetane Nocturne, MD, of Hôpital Bicêtre in Ile-de-France, and colleagues.
COVID Breakthrough Infections in Rheumatic Patients
Analysis of records from the Mass General Brigham healthcare system in the Boston area, shows that breakthrough infections (after receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccines) in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) are not uncommon, and may be severe or fatal.
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ICYMI: The Greatest Rheumatologist - Part II
Wow! I hope you read part I of yesterday's “Greatest Rheumatologist” article. So many big names and yet, other names and stories that were equally inspirational.
If you read the comments of the part I article you can clearly see several themes emerge.
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ICYMI: The Greatest Rheumatologist - Part I
Who is the greatest rheumatologist? What makes for a great rheum? Is it clinical acumen, scientific achievement, educational prowess or years of unrivaled service or mentoring? Rheumatologists are quite opinionated on this subject and very nostalgic about their mentors and leaders. When I’ve posed this question in small groups, it’s plain to see how moved they become when discussing mentors or peers who influenced them. Thus, I posed this question to many of our leaders and mentors: who do you think of as the greatest rheumatologist?
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RheumNow Podcast – JAK Inhibitor Warnings from the FDA
FDA JAK inhibitor warnings and what it means (also: what do you think?); other news released this week; and, two questions submitted from listeners. Dr. Cush discusses this and more in this week's podcast.
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Expert Panel: Initial Views on FDA Warnings for JAK Inhibitors
Dr. Jack Cush is joined by Drs. Roy Fleischmann (Dallas), Allan Gibofsky (NYC), and Artie Kavanaugh (San Diego) to discuss the 9/2/21 FDA Drug Safety Communication regarding the cardiovascular and cancer risks arising from the Pfizer 1133 (ORAL Surveillance) tofacitinib study, but also applied to baricitinib and upadacitinib.
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FDA: New Cardiac and Cancer Warnings for All JAK Inhibitors
Today, Sept.1st, the FDA announced its decision regarding tofacitinib's safety concerns from the Oral Surveillance study - handing down warnings for not only Pfizer's JAK inhibitor, but also for other marketed JAK inhibitors from AbbVie and Eli Lilly & Co.
These safety concerns arise from the Oral Surveillance study - a large, post-marketing, safety trial of tofacitinib versus adalimumab in high risk patients. New warnings about the risks of cardiac events, death and cancer will appear as a revision to the "boxed warnings" in the product label (package insert) for all JAK inhibitors - tofacitinib, baricitinib and upadacitinib.
TNF Inhibitor Induced IgA Vasculitis in IBD
A new descriptive series shows an uncommon association between IgA vasculitis (IgAV) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), with most cases interestingly arising after or during anti-TNF-α therapy.
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Drug Choices After First TNF Inhibitor in RA
TNFi are frequently used first line in RA patients; and a new analysis shows that repeat use of TNFi dominates over the use of non-TNFi biologics when the initial TNFi therapy has failed. This retrospective analysis of commercial insurance records analyzed the patterns of drug use in adult RA patients who switched to their second biologic or targeted disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.
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