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Lupus Patients Genomically Stratified to Explain Treatment Responses
Systemic lupus is a clinically heterogeneous disorder, unified by requisite clinical features and exuberant humoral response to unknown triggers. While the diagnosis is easy, the disease course and management can be complicated and challenging.
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Sclerostin Inhibition May Worsen Rheumatoid Arthritis
Sclerostin, an inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, negatively regulates osteoblast differentiation and has anti-anabolic effects on bone formation. Thus, inhibition of sclerostin is currently being studied as therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis.
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faSScinate Study Shows Tocilizumab to be Effective in Systemic Sclerosis
The results of the faSScinate trial were published in Lancet showing that treatment with Actemra (tocilizumab) resulted in a reduction in skin thickness and an improvement in lung function in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
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Fresolimumab (anti-TGF beta) Improves Systemic Sclerosis
Transforming growth factor (TGF-β) is known to have potent profibrotic activity and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis a futile condition with no effective disease modifying treatments.
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10 Ways Rheumatoid Arthritis Could’ve Killed Glenn Frey
I was truly stunned when it was announced that Glenn Frey, from the Eagles, had died as a result of complications from his rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
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Early DMARD Therapy Averts Cardiovascular Risk in RA
A Finnish early RA register studied 14,878 incident RA patients from 2000-2008 and identified 1157 deaths. Patients receiving DMARDs and MTX had lower mortality rates. The standardized mortality ratio for the entire cohort was reduced (0.57, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.62).
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Adalimumab Approved for Uveitis
Autoimmune ophthalmic disease is a frequent challenge to rheumatologists from both a diagnostic and therapeutic perspective. Approved therapies are limited and have only been infrequently or comfortably utilized by rheumatologists and autoimmune ophthalmologists.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 1 July 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the news and social media in the past week on RheumNow.com
Checkpoint Inhibitors Causing Arthritis
A recent report from Johns Hopkins, published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, describes 13 cancer patients treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitors, ipilimumab or nivolumab, who developed inflammatory arthritis and sicca syndrome.
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Tocilizumab in Pregnancy
Tocilizumab is currently listed as a Category "C" pregnancy risk based on limited pre-clinical (animal) data that was negative.
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Cancer Risk Lower with TNF inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Since the introduction of TNF inhibitors nearly 20 years ago, concerns over a potential associated cancer risk have abounded. The recent ACR RA treatment guidelines have addressed this recently, stating that patients with any solid tumor cancer or risk thereof should be treated as if they ha
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Biologics and Fatigue in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Researchers from Bristol, UK have published a Cochrane review studying the effects of biologic therapies on fatigue.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 24 June 2016
Dr. Cush reviews highlights published this week at RheumNow.com.
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Infection Risk Increased in Giant Cell Arteritis
French researchers recruited 486 patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) from over 40 centers throughout France, and compared their outcomes to age and sex matched individuals randomly selected from the general population. Both groups were followed for 5 years and assessed for the risk of serious infections.
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New EULAR Guidelines on Behçet's
At the EULAR 2016 meeting, new EULAR recommendations for the management of Behçet's disease (BD) were presented.
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A $20 Drug Company Meal Yields 2-5 Times More Prescriptions
Accepting a single pharmaceutical industry-sponsored meal was associated with higher rates of prescribing certain drugs to Medicare patients by physicians, with more, and costlier, meals associated with greater increases in prescribing, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Me
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EULAR 2016 Drug Safety Report
The EULAR Annual European Congress of Rheumatology meeting was held in London from June 8-11, 2016 and was well attended by thousands. This year’s meeting had over 2,000 poster displays, and the EULAR 2016 Congress presented new recommendations on the management of rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and fibromyalgia.
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Steroid Use in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Associated with Fractures
The impact of systemic glucocorticoid exposure on fracture risk among new-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was studied using administrative claims data detailing the treatments and outcomes of 42,127 newly diagnosed RA patients (between 2005-2012).
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Pregnancy Complications in Primary Sjogren's
Sjogren's syndrome is a highly prevalent disorder, affecting women ten times more frequently than men. Although the typical onset follows menopause, a minority of women may develop primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) during child-bearing years.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 17 June 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, reports and highlights from EULAR and the last 2 weeks from RheumNow.com.
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