High anti-TNF Failure Rates with Obesity

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A meta-analysis has suggested that obesity is an under-reported predictor of inferior response to tumor necrosis factor blockade (anti-TNF) in a range of inflammatory immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), with the results showing a 60% risk of impaired response to anti-TNF across several

Cancer Risk Raised in Psoriatic Arthritis

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Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) were at increased risks for malignancy, and possibly more so if they were treated with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), a meta-analysis found.

In nine cohort studies that included more than 43,000 PsA patients, the pooled relative risk for overall malignancy was 1.29 (95% CI 1.04-1.60) compared with the general population, according to Yunyun Fei, MD, and colleagues from Peking Union Medical College in Beijing.

Measures of Opioid Misuse Predict Future Opioid Overdose and Death

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The current issue of Annals of Internal Medicine examines patterns of potential opioid misuse that are associated with subsequent adverse outcomes nationally.

FDA Approves Denosumab for Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis

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Amgen announced that the U.S.

Autoinflammatory Syndromes Show Dramatic Response to Canakinumab

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The New England Journal of Medicine reports that the anti-interleukin (IL)-1β monoclonal antibody canakinumab (Ilaris) was effective in the treatment of three distinct autoinflammatory recurrent fever syndromes (FMF, TRAPS, HIDS) with responses that were far superior to what was see

The RheumNow Week in Review – Modifiable Behavior (5.18.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.  He discusses opioids, new approval for polyarticular JIA, running and osteoarthritis, and modifiable behaviors that influence outcomes. 

Treat-to-Target a Bust with Rheumatologists

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Treat-to-target strategy is widely advocated as an important means of optimizing treatment responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Even though T2T is encouraged by most guidelines, a current report shows that US Rheumatologists fail to implement T2T in their daily practice.

Trends in Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment 2004-2015

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Lee and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital have analyzed the last decade of disease‐modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) use in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and found nearly 40% were treated with a bDMARD, along with a decreasing trend in complete DMARD discontinuations.

The Hazardous Highs and Lows of Uric Acid

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Both high and low levels of uric acid were linked with increased risks of death, showing a U-shaped association between serum uric acid levels and all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality, Korean researchers reported.

Opioid Marketing & Meals Tied to Opioid Prescribing

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A current study in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that while US physicians who received no opioid-related marketing payments had fewer opioid prescriptions in 2015 compared with 2014, those receiving such payments wrote for more opioid in 2015.

Epigenetic Link in Rheumatoid Arthritis to Huntington's Disease

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Researchers at University of California San Diego School and the Icahn School of Medicine have found a high-resolution epigenomic landscape of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that overlaps with that seen in Huntington's disease, suggesting potentially new unanticipated pathways that could be devel

Ankylosing Spondylitis Women Show Less Durable Responses to TNF Inhibitors

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A study from the Netherlands has shown that the long-term drug survival of TNF inhibitors differ between men and women, with women having a lower long-term retention rate compared to men. A single-center, retrospective study of 122 anklylosing spondylitis (AS) patients, analyzed the outcomes of those receiving either  etanercept, adalimumab, or infliximab between 2004 and 2014.

Nearly 40% were women and most AS patients received adalimumab (59.7%), compared to etanercept (28.9%) or infliximab (11.3%).

Mortality Predictors in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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A population based study from southern Denmark finds excess mortality RF-positive males with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and that employment status and comorbidity were independent predictors of mortality.

Trump Blasts Drug Makers on the Price of Drugs

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Reuter's reports Friday that President Donald Trump blasted drugmakers and healthcare “middlemen” for making prescription drugs unaffordable for Americans.

The RheumNow Week in Review - Nonadherence and Astronomic Costs (5.11.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

New EULAR Pain Guidelines

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The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) convened a multidisciplinary task force including health professionals and patient representatives to develop evidence-based recommendations for pain management in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and osteoarthritis (OA).

Elderly Often Untested for Sleep Apnea

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Geriatric patients are at a higher risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), yet they are seldom diiagnosed or evaluated for OSA.

A recent study shows that 56% of people 65 years and older have a high risk of OSA, but that only 8% were tested for OSA.

Tocilizumab Beats Anti-TNFs for Treatment Retention

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Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had previously had an inadequate response to one biologic agent remained on tocilizumab (Actemra) longer than on a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor, whether or not conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were given concomitantl

Patients May Not Fill Your Prescription

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A new study linking administrative claims and electronic health records (EHRs) shows that nearly 40% of patients fill and take newly prescribed methotrexate (MTX), tofacitinib or biologics. 

Kan et al set out to estimate the extent and predictors of primary nonadherence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who received new prescriptions for methotrexate, biologics or tofacitinib.

60 Minutes Drills Acthar - A Financially Crippling Drug

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Acthar is in the news again. Previously a New York Times article lambasted the drug as the "single most expensive drug per patient", based on it costing Medicare  $16,2371 per patient for nearly 3100 patients. Overall, costing Medicare a half-billion US dollars per year.