RheumNow Week in Review - 29 July 2016

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Dr Jack Cush reviews this week's highlights from RheumNow.com.

Long-Term Safety of Adalimumab Reviewed

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Burmester and colleagues have published their review of the long-term outcomes and safety issues with the TNF inhibitor, adalimumab (ADA). The analysis included 15,132 patients exposed to adalimumab in global RA clinical trials.

RheumNow Week in Review – 22 July 2016

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From tofacitinib developmental trials in RA and psoriasis and adherence to T2T in early RA to a rheumatology pearl about dapsone and much more, here are the highlights of what you may have missed on RheumNow.com this week.

Little Evidence Favoring the Health Benefits of Vitamin D

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Vitamin D certainly plays a pivotal role in bone health and immune function.

Will Patent Extensions Delay Biosimilar Arrivals?

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In the last 6 months, the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee has recommended three biosimilars (CT-P13, GP-2015, ABP-501) for approval, with one achieving FDA approval Inflectra/CT-P13) and the other two pending a probable approval in the months to come.

ORBIT Study Shows Rituximab is Non-Inferior to TNF Inhibitors in Biologic Naive Patients

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Porter and colleagues have reported that both rituximab (RTX) and tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi)  are equally and highly effective in early, active, biologic-naive rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Increaed GI Perforations with Tocilizumab Seen in German Registry Analysis

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The issue of lower intestinal tract perforation (LIP) is no novelty to rheumatologists since the RA treatment paradigm shifted from use of NSAIDs (the most common cause of upper GI tract perforations) to steroids and non-steroidal DMARDs.

RheumNow Week in Review – 15 July 2016

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from this week's rheumatology news on RheumNow.com.

Sandoz Etanercept Biosimilar Voted for Approval by FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee

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The Food and Drug Administration’s Arthritis Advisory Committee (AAC) yesterday recommended that the Sandoz etanercept (Enbrel) biosimilar (GP-2015) be approved for use in the United States.

Gut Microbiome Shapes Risk and Response in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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In Genome Medicine, Mayo Clinic researchers investigated a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, their relatives and a healthy control group analyzing the gut microbiome vial16S ribosomal DNA analysis of fecal samples.

FDA Says Cryotherapy Lacks Evidence, Poses Risks

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Cryotherapy is a non-FDA approved treatment that has been promoted to treat post-athletic injury, osteoarthritis,rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, alzheimers, migraines, asthma, multiple sclerosis, etc. Cryotherapy may be as simple as ice packs on a localized portion of the body, such as the lower back, or may involve whole body cryotherapy.

Vagal Stimulation Improves Cytokine Production and Rheumatoid Disease Activity

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PNAS has published a study wherein an inducible “inflammatory reflex” delivered by vagus nerve stimulation was shown to inhibit the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), an inflammatory molecule that is a major therapeutic target in an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Sclerostin Inhibition May Worsen Rheumatoid Arthritis

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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.

Patient Reluctance to Take Bisphosphonates

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The NY Times reports that millions of Americans with osteoporosis are driven to stop or not take bisphosphonate therapies over the fear of exceedingly rare side effects - osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and atypical femoral fractures (AFF).

10 Ways Rheumatoid Arthritis Could’ve Killed Glenn Frey

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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.

Early DMARD Therapy Averts Cardiovascular Risk in RA

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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).

Tocilizumab in Pregnancy

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Tocilizumab is currently listed as a Category "C" pregnancy risk based on limited pre-clinical (animal) data that was negative.

Cancer Risk Lower with TNF inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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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

Biologics and Fatigue in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Researchers from Bristol, UK have published a Cochrane review studying the effects of biologic therapies on fatigue.

Family History and Rheumatoid Arthritis

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