All News
Nintedanib May Benefit Systemic Sclerosis Related Interstitial Lung Disease
The NEJM reports a randomized placebo controlled trial of nintedanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in systemic sclerosis patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) resulted in less pulmonary decline, but had no effect on other features of systemic sclerosis.
Read Article
Steroids, Not Biologics, Drive Arthroplasty Infections in RA
Medicare and Truven MarketScan administrative data study (2006 through 2015) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) undergoing arthroplasty found that while that the risks of perioperative infection was similar across biologics, the infection risk with glucocorticoid use, especially at
Read Article
EMA Restricts Tofacitinib Dosing
The Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee of the European Medicines Agency issued recommendations limiting the use of Xeljanz (tofacitinib) 10 mg twice daily in patients with ulcerative colitis in the EU.
The new recommendations are temporary while PRAC undertakes a review of all available evidence on the safety and efficacy of tofacitinib. The review follows warnings of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) and death from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration based on Pfizer's large post-marketing safety study (in high risk rheumatoid arthritis patients with one or more underlying cardiovascular risk factors) wherein those receiving in tofacitinib 10 mg twice daily in study A3921133 had more PE and mortalities than comparator groups (tofacitinib 5 mg bid or adalimumab).
RheumNow Podcast – Richer or Poorer (5.17.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
Read Article
FDA Final Guidance on Interchangeability with Biosimilars
The FDA has published an industry guidance document to define interchangeability as regards to biosimilar use in the United States under section 351(k) of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) (42 U.S.C. 262(k)).
Read Article
New ACR/AF Guidelines on JIA Polyarthritis and Uveitis
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Arthritis Foundation (AF) have released two guidelines on management of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
Read Article
Targeting GM-CSF Works in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Namilumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) ligand, showed promise as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a phase II study.
Read Article
Skyrizi (risankizumab) FDA Approved for Psoriasis
AbbVie has announced that the US FDA has granted the approval of Skyrizi (risankizumab-rzaa) for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
Read Article
Ustekinumab Effective in Behcet's Disease
A small prospective study has shown that ustekinumab is safe and effective in Behçet's disease (BD) with recurrent oral ulcers (OU).
Read Article
Polypharmacy Blunts Responses and Ups the Safety Risks
A study from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR-RA) demonstrates that polypharmacy is a predictor of lower treatment responses and more serious adverse events (SAEs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
Read Article
EULAR 2019 Update to Lupus Management
The goal of SLE treatment is remission or low disease activity and flare prevention. Hydroxychloroquine is recommended in all patients with lupus, at a dose not exceeding 5 mg/kg real body weight. Glucocorticoids (GC) should be minimised to less than 7.5 mg/day (prednisone equivalent). Appropriate initiation of immunomodulatory agents (methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate) can be tailored to the clinical scenarios and may allow for tapering or discontinuation of GC.
Read Article
Update on Vaccines in Autoimmune Patients
Although both the disease and the treatment for it in rheumatology patients may work at cross-purposes with immunizations, only a very few vaccines are absolutely contraindicated in this population, an infectious disease specialist told rheumatologists here.
Read Article
RheumNow Podcast – A Tofa Two-fer (4.12.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
Read Article
An Autoimmune Diagnosis Alters Perceptions of Pregnancy and Lactation
A study from UT Southwestern and the Baylor Research Institute examined the preceptions and practices of women with autoimmune or inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIRD) noting that an AIRD diagnosis changed most womens future hopes and plans regarding pregnancy and lactation.
Read Article
RheumNowLive On Demand: Development & Use of JAK Inhibitors - Dr. John O'Shea
A clip from RheumNow Live On Demand. You can access the full library of content from the meeting.
Read Article
For RA With COPD, Abatacept is Safe
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had no increased risk of serious respiratory complications when treated with abatacept (Orencia), a large claims-based analysis found.
Read Article
Best of 2019 - Ups and Downs with Abatacept
Two recent studies have examined the effect of starting abatacept upon the risk of serious hospitalized infections or cancer, showing divergent results from claims data analyses.
Read Article
Cyclosporin and IVIG Effective in Kawasaki's Disease
A Lancet study has shown that adding cyclosporin to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) Kawasaki disease patients, who were predicted to be resistant to IVIG, was both safe and effective in averting severe coronary artery outcomes.
Read Article
No Rise in Cancer Risk with Actemra
In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there was no increased risk for malignancy development seen with newly initiated tocilizumab (Actemra) treatment, an analysis of three U.S. insurance claim databases found.
Read Article
Brazilian Guidelines for Systemic Autoimmune Myopathies
The Myopathy Committee of the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology (BSR) has put forward recommendations for the management of patients with systemic autoimmune myopathies (SAM).
Read Article
