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RheumNow Podcast – A Grand New Year (1.4.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journals for the beginning of 2019. All from RheumNow.com.
Best wishes for a charmed 2019! My advice: 1. Just show up. 2. If you can, then you must do. 3. Live each day as if it twas your 1st day/last day/make or break day. 4. Teach.
2018 Rheumatology Year In Review
This annual appraisal of hallmark moments, news and research articles from 2018 are gleaned from that published in RheumNow during the last year and filtered by other news sources and literature review. The top 10 list herein is rooted in what rheumatologists should know and what will likel
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Severe Cutaneous Sarcoid Treated with Tofacitinib
Researchers from Yale have taken a novel approach and shown benefits when using tofacitinib in severe cutaneous sarcoidosis.
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Best of 2018: The Safety of Paternal Exposure to DMARDs and Biologics
Pregnancy and drug safety is a complex issue, often with limited information about maternal drug exposure on the offspring. Greater uncertainty exists when considering whether paternal exposure may also influence fetal outcomes.
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Best of 2018: Ustekinumab May be Effective in Lupus
Ronald F van Vollenhoven and colleagues have reported in Lancet that ustekinumab (UST), an interleukin-12 and -23 inhibitor, when added to usual therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, was shown to be superior to placebo at improving clinical efficacy and laboratory param
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Best of 2018: Unproven But Profitable Stem Cell Clinics
Stem cell clinics are popular and proliferating as they are largely a cash business and fall outside of FDA regulatory control. In lieu of scientific proof, most advocates use patient testimonials and the placebo effect to back up their claims.
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RheumNow Podcast – Rheumatologist Salaries (12.21.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from RheumNow for the week ending 12/21/18.
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Reassuring VTE Data for Tofacitinib
No significant differences in risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) were seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and those receiving tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, analysis of administrative data showed.
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H2H: Ixekizumab vs. Adalimumab in Psoriatic Arthritis
Lilly has issued an advanced press release on its SPIRIT-H2H trial, wherein ixekizumab (Taltz) was shown to be more effective than than adalimumab (Humira) in a 24 week psoriatic arthritis study.
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RheumNow Podcast – Vasculitis and Strange Bedfellows (12.14.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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IL-23 Outduels IL-17 Inhibition in Psoriasis
Johnson & Johnson has announced the preliminary results of its phase 3 ECLIPSE study; a head-to-head trial wherein guselkumab (Tremfya; an IL-23 inhibitor) was compared to secukinumab (Cosentyx; an IL-17 inhibitor) in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
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PRAIRI Study - Can RA Be Prevented?
B-cell depletion may offer a means of delaying the onset of clinical arthritis in adults at high risk, according to the PRAIRI study - a proof-of-mechanism study in pre-clinical RA patients.
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New ACR/NPF Guidelines for Management of Psoriatic Arthritis
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) have released a joint treatment guideline for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) that provides evidence-based pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic recommendations and includes recommendations on other management issues inclu
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Filgotinib in Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis
Another, new Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor is out with impressive data - this time its filgotinib, demonstrating its efficacy and safety two separate clinical trials of patients with psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis.
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RheumNow Podcast – To Needle or Not to Needle (11.30.18)
Dr. Jack Cush updates the news and reports from the past week at RheumNow.com:
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Kallikrein Inhibitor Lanadelumab Prevents Hereditary Angioedema Attacks
Hereditary angioedema is a rare autosomal dominant disorder due to C1 inhibitor deficiency (type I) or dysfunction (type II) that leads to dysregulated plasma kallikrein activity, excess bradykinin production, and unpredictable potentially life-threatening recurrent angioedema attacks.
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FDA Approves Biosimilar Rituximab for NHL, not RA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Celltrion biosimilar of rituximab called Truxima; previously called CT-P10, now generically labeled as rituximab-abbs. This is the first biosimilar to the Rituxan currently approved to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Truxima is not approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, pemphigus vulgaris or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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First FDA Approved Drug for HLH
The first drug specifically for primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) was approved today, the FDA announced.
Read ArticleAURA-LV Trial - Voclosporin Effective in Lupus Nephritis
The AURA-LV trial assessed voclosporin, a calcineurin inhibitor in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) and found that low-dose voclosporin may be successfully added to mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids to controll active LN.
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CIRT Trial - Methotrexate Fails at Cardiovascular Prevention
Methotrexate has been shown to reduce cardiovascular (CV) deaths in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Given that inflammation underlies the pathogenesis of atherothrombosis, Dr. Paul Ridker and colleagues studied the value of low dose methotrexate (MTX) in preventing cardiovascular events.
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