Updates on Psoriatic Arthritis at ACR 2018

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I think 2018 was the year that belonged to psoriatic arthritis (although some may argue in favor of immune conditions induced by Checkpoint inhibitors). Many years ago the late Professor Verna Wright in Leeds (UK) was a lone voice for many years describing the clinical subtypes of Psoriatic arthritis as something distinctive from rheumatoid arthritis. For a long time we thought that the treatments for PsA were just the same as RA since we were treating the same problem of synovitis.

ACR 2018 - Day 2 Report

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Monday was a packed day of sessions and studies. Here are our just a few of our highlights.

Several Studies Addressed Treatment of Axial Spondylitis

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Monday afternoon's session on the treatment of Axial Spondyloarthritis presented us with a great selection of studies addressing important issues in modern treatment paradigm of AxSpA.

Emerging Trends in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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ACR 2018 - Day 1 Report

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RheumNow is in Chicago covering the ACR annual meeting. Here are the highlights from Sunday (day one). Be sure to check our complete coverage, including articles, video reports and tweets, at acr18.rheumnow.com.

RheumNow Week in Review – ACR Preview Edition (10.19.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush summarizes the news and reports from RheumNow.Com this past week and previews RheumNow activities at the upcoming ACR 2018 meeting in Chicago.

IL-6 for Adult Still's: A New Option?

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Some clinical benefits were seen among patients with adult-onset Still's disease treated with tocilizumab (Actemra) in a small clinical trial, but the study's primary endpoint was not met, Japanese researchers reported.

RheumNow Week in Review – Vitamin D Falls Again (10.4.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com. 

Predictive Risk Factors for Uveitis in JIA

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Researchers from Germany have studied a large cohort of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients and shown that JIA disease activity scores and laboratory biomarkers could be used to better define the group of JIA patients at high risk of uveitis onset.

Elder Rheumatoids Less Likely to Receive Biologics

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Multiple studies have shown that elderly rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients tend to be under-treated and receive DMARD therapies less often than younger RA patients.

Long-Term Efficacy of Canakinumab in Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

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Only inhibitors of IL-1 (canakinumab) and IL-6 (tocilizumab) are FDA approved for use in children with systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA). Now, long-term data from the extension studies from two phase III studies shows that canakinumab yields long-term improvements with reduced glucocorticoid dosing with no new safety findings with long-term use.

RheumNow Week in Review – I Wanna New Drug (9.28.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com, including news on inappropriate opioids, pre-clinical RA treatment, DMARDs in Gout, the decline of arthroscopy, and a pain in the mouth.

What Works in Undifferentiated Arthritis Patients

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Ustekinumab May be Effective in Lupus

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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

Unproven But Profitable Stem Cell Clinics

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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.

Treat-to-Target in RA: No Increase in AEs

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Implementing a treat-to-target approach for the care of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) did not result in an increase in adverse events or resource use, a post-hoc analysis of a randomized trial showed.

Biologic Therapies Improve Work Outcomes in Spondyloarthritis

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A study from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register in Axial Spondyloarthritis (BSRBR-AS) shows that biologic use significantly improves work productivity and overall activity impairment.

BMS Tyk 2 Inhibitor Benefits Psoriasis

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The NEJM reports that an oral selecive Tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor of TYK2 was shown to be superior to placebo in a 12 week trial in patients with active psoriasis.

Out of Pocket Costs for Biosimilars - No Savings So Far

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JAMA has published an analysis showing that under Medicare Part D, RA biosimilar infliximab-dyyb was only moderately less expensive (18% less) than the biologic infliximab and, owing to differences in gap discounts, the out of pocket costs for the biosimilar was nearly $1700 more than infliximab

Cutting Oral JAK 1/2 Inhibitor Dose an Option in RA

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Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieved sustained disease control with baricitinib (Olumiant) treatment were able to reduce their daily dose from 4 mg to 2 mg and maintain their response, a double-blind substudy of a long-term extension trial found.