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IL-23 Inhibitor Effective in Crohn's Disease
Selective IL-23 inhibition has been touted to be the next great advance in the treatment of inflammatory bowel and psoriatic disease.
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Tocilizumab Effective in PMR
Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) should be easy and responsive, but it can be a challenge and requires long-term steroid therapy. Problems often begin when steroid–induced side effects take their toll on a patient, especially in elderly adults.
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Opioid Prescriptions in Decline
In an era of increasing fears over narcotic abuse and narcotic-related deaths, the number of opioid prescriptions in the United States is finally falling, the according to the NY Times.
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TB Management Questions
The following is a compilation of several frequently asked questions regarding tuberculosis (TB) testing or treatment in patients on a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) or other biologic agents.
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ORBIT Study Shows Rituximab and TNF inhibitor Equivalence
The initial choice of biologic is crucial to long-term success. Yet there are few studies evaluating head-to-head differences in some of our most popular therapies.
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RheumNow Week in Review - 19 May 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews this week's news and research highlights from RheumNow.com.
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FDA Delays Ruling on Generic Labeling
The New York Times reports that the FDA has delayed its much anticipated ruling on generics until sometime in 2017.
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Musculoskeletal Complications of Hematologic Disorders Reviewed
Morais and colleagues have published an informative review of rheumatologic and musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders that may potentially befall those with benign or malignant blood disorders. It is important to be aware of these associations.
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GWAS Reveals Shared Susceptibility Locus Between RA and SLE
While the phenotypes of RA and SLE are quite different, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) performed in the past have shown a genetic overlap between both.
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Risk Factors for Bisphosphonate Bone Complications
Rare reports of bisphosphonate associated atypical femoral fractures (AFF) and osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) have raised concerns about the chronic use of bisphosphonates. The risk of AFF and ONJ was assessed in an analysis of the Swedish national database.
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Reports Call for More Gout Education
Two recent surveys show that gout patients are often uninformed, undertreated, improperly monitored and frequently stigmatized by their gout.
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Cochrane Reports Moderate Evidence Favoring Biologic Add-on Therapy
Singh and coworkers have assessed the value of adding a biologic to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients not responding to either methotrexate (MTX) or DMARDs. The results of their netowork metanalsysis is published as a Cochrane review wherein they examined a total of 90 RCTs (73 new) with 32
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Netrin-1 May Promote Lung Fibrosis in Scleroderma
Mechanisms underlying the pulmonary fibrosis of systemic sclerosis are poorly understood, yet are the focus of both research and new drug development.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 13 May 2016
Dr. Cush reviews highlights from this week on RheumNow.com.
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Secukinumab Improves Patient-Reported Outcomes in Psoriatic Arthritis (FUTURE 1)
Secukinumab (Cosentyx) has recently been approved for use in ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis; the latter largely based on the FUTURE 2 and the just reported FUTURE 1 clinical trial. FUTURE 1 demonstrates the efficacy and safety of secukinumab, with inital weekly intravenous loading, given monthly as a subcutaneous injection.
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Vasculitis Associated with Biologic Use
The widespread use of existing biologics has sometimes been associated with the paradoxical development of biologic-induced autoimmune phenomena, including vasculitis. A recent review of more than 200 vasculitis cases associated with biologic use has profiled the range of these unsual and rare events.
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JIA Women at Risk of Heart Disease
Women with a history of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) are more than twice as likely as those without this condition to be diagnosed with heart disease, according to the results of a new study.
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Generics Surge the Market
Generics are being approved at a record-setting pace. Thanks to the 2012 FDA Safety and Innovation Act, there are new funds generated by manufacturers' fees for drug applications to hasten the approval of generics. In 2015 alone, the FDA has approved 580 generic drugs – the highest number on record – while another 146 were granted tentative approval.
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Curbside Consults - May 2016
How would you manage rheumatoid arthritis patients with melanoma in situ, or high liver enzymes or interstitial lung disease? Curbside consults takes on these challenging therapeutic or safety issues with answers are based on experience, literature and guidelines.
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Scleroderma Digital Ulcers Fail to Respond to Endothelin Antagonist
Khanna and coworkers have published the results of the DUAL-1 and DUAL-2 clinical trials (sponsored by Actelion Pharmaceuticals) testing the efficacy macitentan in reducing the number of new digital ulcers in patients with systemic sclerosis.
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