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European Registries Show No Melanoma Risk with Biologics
The combined analysis of 130,315 rheumatoid arthritis patients from 11 European registries did not reveal an association between invasive (malignant) melanoma and the use of biologic therapies.
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Dramatic Results for Interferon Blocker in SLE
Blocking the type 1 interferon receptor with the monoclonal antibody anifrolumab shows promise as a treatment for moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to a phase IIb study presented here.
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U-ACT-Early and the Benefits of Tocilizumab
Lancet has published the results of the U-ACT-early study assessing the efficacy of monotherapy versus combination therapy using an interleukin-6 receptor-blocking monoclonal antibody, tocilizumab, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
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Hospitalizations Decline for Rheumatoid Arthritis, But Increase in Gout
JAMA has reported the results of an 18-year National Inpatient Sample, a database of US non-federal hospitalizations.
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EULAR: Tofacitinib Effective in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Desiree van der Heidje, MD, PhD presented the results of a 16-week, phase II, dose-ranging study of tofacitinib (TOFA) in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis.
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Eight Deaths Linked to Methotrexate in Australia
Methotrexate , a cornerstone drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, has led to 90 hospitalizations and 7 deaths according to a recent report from the Medical Journal of Australia.
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April-May 2016 Top Social Media News
In April and May 2016, RheumNow sent 82 tweets regarding news, research and teaching points that strongly impacted the rheumatology community and resulted in a reach of 203,500 impressions, with 136 mentions, and over 6378 visits to RheumNow.com. Here are the top tweets from April and May.
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Patients Undertreated and Uninformed on Pain Meds and NSAIDs
Pain management in the U.S. is at a vexing crossroad. The news tells us that narcotics are increasingly being restricted for their dangerous side effects and inappropriate use.
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Arhalofenate, URAT-1 Inhibitor, Being Developed for Gout
Good news for gout patients includes the recent approval of Zurampic (lesinurad), a URAT-1 inhibitor, and that effective urate-lowering therapy has significant long-term cardiovascular benefits.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 27 May 2016
Dr. Cush reviews highlights from this week on RheumNow.com.
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Mosquito Arthritis
In the last two years there have been increasing reports of mosquito-borne infectious arthritides. Dengue fever was best known until the introduction of viral infections due to chikungunya and Zika.
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IL-23 Inhibitor Effective in Crohn's Disease
Selective IL-23 inhibition has been touted to be the next great advance in the treatment of inflammatory bowel and psoriatic disease.
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Opioid Prescriptions in Decline
In an era of increasing fears over narcotic abuse and narcotic-related deaths, the number of opioid prescriptions in the United States is finally falling, the according to the NY Times.
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TB Management Questions
The following is a compilation of several frequently asked questions regarding tuberculosis (TB) testing or treatment in patients on a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) or other biologic agents.
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ORBIT Study Shows Rituximab and TNF inhibitor Equivalence
The initial choice of biologic is crucial to long-term success. Yet there are few studies evaluating head-to-head differences in some of our most popular therapies.
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RheumNow Week in Review - 19 May 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews this week's news and research highlights from RheumNow.com.
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FDA Delays Ruling on Generic Labeling
The New York Times reports that the FDA has delayed its much anticipated ruling on generics until sometime in 2017.
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Cochrane Reports Moderate Evidence Favoring Biologic Add-on Therapy
Singh and coworkers have assessed the value of adding a biologic to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients not responding to either methotrexate (MTX) or DMARDs. The results of their netowork metanalsysis is published as a Cochrane review wherein they examined a total of 90 RCTs (73 new) with 32
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Secukinumab Improves Patient-Reported Outcomes in Psoriatic Arthritis (FUTURE 1)
Secukinumab (Cosentyx) has recently been approved for use in ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis; the latter largely based on the FUTURE 2 and the just reported FUTURE 1 clinical trial. FUTURE 1 demonstrates the efficacy and safety of secukinumab, with inital weekly intravenous loading, given monthly as a subcutaneous injection.
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Generics Surge the Market
Generics are being approved at a record-setting pace. Thanks to the 2012 FDA Safety and Innovation Act, there are new funds generated by manufacturers' fees for drug applications to hasten the approval of generics. In 2015 alone, the FDA has approved 580 generic drugs – the highest number on record – while another 146 were granted tentative approval.
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