Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has emerged as a transformative approach in modern medicine, demonstrating remarkable efficacy in targeting pathogenic B-cell lineages with unprecedented specificity.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com.

Dry eye rates upwards of 20% were seen across nine common autoimmune diseases other than Sjögren's, most often in rheumatoid arthritis (39.3%) with Crohn's disease bringing up the rear (23.0%), according to Chi-Chin Sun, MD, PhD, of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Keelung, Taiwan, and colleagues.

An economic evaluation of early vs delayed use of the Blys inhibitor, belimumab (BEL), in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has shown both cost effectiveness and clinical utility of early BEL initiation in active lupus patients.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com. Highlights include referral rules, combination biiologics in psoriasis and don't use JAK inhibitors in pregnancy.

The notion of intervening in autoimmune disease prior to the onset of irreversible tissue damage has evolved beyond a theoretical framework; it is presently undergoing empirical evaluation. Recent discussions on incomplete lupus and the SMILE trial, alongside advances in Sjögren’s therapeutics, highlight both the promise and complexity of prevention and precision treatment in systemic autoimmunity.

Rheumatologic care involves multidisciplinary approaches and collaboration with specialties to treat complex, systemic diseases. While many Pods at RheumNow Live are disease specific, the Pod II focused on Advancing Practice on important and emerging areas affecting rheumatologic patients. This session focused on two major areas of need: obesity and peri-operative management.