The RheumNow Week in Review – Life Savers for Rheumatologists (6.29.18)

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

Does RA Have a Prodrome?

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A pattern of increased primary care visits and joint complaints during the 2 years before rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was diagnosed were predictive of the diagnosis, a British case-control study found.

Five Barriers to Biosimilar Adoption in the US

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A recent Deloitte analysis of the biosimilar market in the USA suggests there are defined obstacles to biosimilar use that must be dealt with, especially as the current administration is seeking to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs for US consumers.

Can DMARDs Delay Rheumatoid Onset?

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Preclinical rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a hot new area wherein at risk individuals (seropositive, first degree relatives of RA patients, etc.) are being studied to assess the triggers that lead to progression to RA or whether therapies can be used to avert the onset of RA.

The RheumNow Week in Review – EULAR18 Epilogue (6.22.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews EULAR 2018 and the past week's news and reports from RheumNow.com, including DMARDs in OA, the price of Penicillamine, Infections when ANCA+, CV outcomes in gout, NSAIDs in Pregnancy and Seropostive vs. Seronegative Outcomes.

NSAID Use Around Conception Increases Miscarriage Risk

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A study from the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology analyzed pregnant women from the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system and compared newly pregnant women who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen or neither showed that using NSAIDs around conception carried a more than four-fold higher risk of early miscarriage. (Citation source: http://bit.ly/2tqNWN6)

The Stress - Autoimmune Disease Connection

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"Can stresss be the cause of my autoimmune disease?" is an often launched question met with shrugs of uncertainty or strongly held beliefs rooted in bias moreso than fact.

Swedish investigators have analyzed a large registry cohort and shown that exposure to stress-related disorders yields a significantly increased risk of autoimmune disease. They analyzed 106,464 patients with stress-related disorders, with 126,652 full siblings, and over a million non-stressed matched controls to assess a future risk of autoimmune disease.

Seronegative and Seropositive Rheumatoids Respond Equally Well

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A cohort study of 241 DMARD-naive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, meeting either 1987 ACR or the 2010 ACR/EULAR  classification criteria for RA, compared the baseline status and long term outcomes of seronegative (SNRA) and seropositive (SPRA).

EULAR 2018 - Day 4 Report

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The EULAR 2018 wound down on Saturday with fewer oral presentations but many posters.  In my last report I put together a collection of impressions and some thematic highlights not covered in previous reports.

Could Measuring Drug Levels with TNF Treatment Hurt Your Patients?

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Our colleagues in gastroenterology measure drug levels with certain biologics used in inflammatory bowel disease in order to increase the dose for optimal benefit if the patient has a low trough level (i.e. targeting drug level).

We Measure What we do in RA, But so What?

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We are supposed to treat to a target (T2T) in RA. In other words, measure many components of the disease and its activity and calculate a score and if the patient is not in remission (or a low state if remission is not achievable) we are to make a treatment change.

Does RA kill you? Let me count the ways….and what you can do about it

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There were many presentations at EULAR 2018 in Amsterdam about the mortality of RA.

EULAR 2018 - Day 2 Report

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Highlights from Day 2 of the EULAR meeting in Amsterdam include high MBDA scores in ACPA negative RA predicts remission; characterization of difficult RA; and gender differences in psoriatic responses to TNF inhibitors. 

Biosimilar Data at #EULAR2018

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Biosimilars are here, and more are being registered all the time, so I was really interested in the biosimilar data at the meeting.

Abbvie Highlights Upadacitinib Trials at EULAR18

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Abbvie press releases feature the results from 3 new trials to be presented during the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2018) in Amsterdam from three Phase 3 trials evaluating upadacitinib, an investigational, once-daily oral JAK1-selective inhibitor, in adult patients with moderat

EULAR 2018 - Day 1 Report

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Highlights from the first day at EULAR include: canakinumab prevents acute gout; AS uveitis benefits from most TNFi; MRI does not improve T2Tor X-ray outcomes; baracitinib wins in SLE - maybe?; new lupus criteria; and lost survival in RA. Here's the RheumNow recap. 

Cancer Therapies Inducing Immune-Related Adverse Events (irAEs)

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Recent shifts in the cancer treatment paradigm towards immune therapies has led to wide implementation of the novel immune check point inhibitors (ICI) in the treatment of multiple types of advanced cancer.

Vedolizumab Implicated in Exacerbations of SpA in IBD Patients

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Beloved by gastroenterologist for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), α4β7 integrin receptor vedolizumab (VDZ) has probably caught attention of many rheumatologist since the time it entered the market; largely for what it won't do for inflammatory arthritis.

The RheumNow Week in Review – Baricitinib Splash (6.7.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush discusses the past week's news and journal articles featured on RheumNow.com - including reports on advance practice clinicians, baricitinib, gout, disease activity, hypomagnesemia and upadacitinib.