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RheumNow Podcast – Cancer Risk in Systemic Sclerosis (9.27.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Low Dose IL-2 Effective in Lupus
A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of low-dose IL-2 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has shown that low-dose IL-2 induced was clinically effective while expandng regulatory T cells and NK cells, which may benefit immune homeostasis in SLE patients.
Persistent Inflammatory Arthritis After Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
Braaten and colleagues from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have reported their experience with chronic inflammatory arthritis induced by immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies, showing that in some, inflammatory arthritis persists after the immunotherapy has been discontinued.
RheumNow Podcast – Believe in Vitamin D or Rituximab? (9.20.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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29 Patients with MDA-5+ Dermatomyositis compliated by ILD were treated with high‐dose steroids, tacrolimus, and IV cyclophosphamide +/- Plasmapheres. 6 mos survival was better (89% and 33%, respectively, P < 0.0001) compared to 15 pts not treated https://t.co/utPiaQlUZF
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Sensitivity of Temporal Artery Biopsy
Metanalysis shows that temporal artery biopsy (TAB) for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) has a sensitivity of 77%, similar to results seen with temporal artery imaging. These data suggest clinicians may be willing to accept a GCA diagnosis without proof by TAB.
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Anakinra Shows Benefits in Cytokine Storm
The interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist anakinra (Kineret) showed promise in critically ill children who develop the often-lethal condition known as secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH)/macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), a retrospective single-center study found.
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ACR Survey Shows Half of Patients Cannot Afford Treatments
Americans living with rheumatic disease face significant healthcare challenges, according to a national patient survey released this week by the American College of Rheumatology. More than 1,500 U.S. adults living with rheumatic disease responded to the survey, which asked a range of questions related to healthcare access, affordability and lifestyle. Key findings include that even though 90 percent of respondents reported having health insurance coverage, nearly 60 percent said they had difficulty affording their medications or treatments in the past year.
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Prior Authorizations Delay Care in Rheumatology
Physicians who believe their patients' health is negatively affected by insurers' demands for prior authorization, and the delays that often result, will find that opinion vindicated by a new study of rheumatology care: when permission had to be sought from insurers to provide intravenous drugs,
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RheumNow Podcast – The End of Arthritis (9.13.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Bimekizumab Add-on Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Bimekizumab is a dual inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F that has been shown to be effective in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. A proof-of-concept study shows that giving bimekizumab to rheumatoid arthritis patients not adequately controlled by certolizumab pegol resulted in a rapid decrease in disease activity achieved after 12 weeks of treatment. These findings are novel as anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibody therapy has previously been shown to be ineffective in RA.
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Riociguat Fails in Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Digital Ulcers
Riociguat is an oral, selective soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator that has been studied in patients with digital ulcers (DU) due to systemic sclerosis (SSc) but study results show that short term (16 weeks) riociquat therapy does not sufficiently reduce the DU burden in SSc patients.
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Anti-IL-23 Beats IL-17 in Plaque Psoriasis
Lancet reports a head-to-head trial of antibodies against interleukin (IL)-23 and IL-17A in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis favored guselkumab with superior PASI 90 responses at week 48 (compared to secukinumab).
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Nintedanib FDA Approved for Scleroderma Lung Disease
Last Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Ofev (nintedanib) to slow the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adults with interstitial lung disease associated with systemic sclerosis or scleroderma, called SSc-ILD.
ILD as a complication of SSc may lead to progressive loss of lung function and may be associated with a significant mortality risk. Prior to the approval of Olev, there were no FDA approved drugs for SSc-ILD.
Respiratory Risks Not Increased in RA Patients with COPD
An insurance claims based study of RA patients with COPD shows that biologics do not have an increased rate of respiratory events compared to those on conventional DMARDs.
A real world cohort of RA patients with COPD was drawn from US-based MarketScan databases. Patients on biologic DMARDs and/or targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs) were propensity matched to those on conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs).
Tocilizumab Shows No Increase in Cardiovascular Risk
The ENTRACTE trial examined the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in RA patients and found no increased risk of MACE in patients treated with tocilizumab (TCZ) versus etanercept (ETN).
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RheumNow Podcast - I Wanna New Drug (8-30-19)
Dr. Jack Cush vents on choosing new therapies in rheumatoid arthritis.
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Checkpoint Inhibitors: Who Gets Myocarditis?
The usual risk factors for myocarditis may not apply to who gets it while on immune checkpoint inhibiting cancer drugs, an FDA adverse event database suggested.
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Taltz FDA Approved for Ankylosing Spondylitis (Radiographic Axial SpA)
The FDA has approved the IL-17A inhibitor Taltz (ixekizumab) for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS: also known as radiographic axial spondyloarthritis).
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ACR/SPARTAN Recommendations for the Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis and Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in partnership with the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA) and the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN), released the 2019 Update of the Recommendations for the Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and Nonradiographic Axi
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