All News
High Biologic Blood Levels Increases the Risk of Infections in RA
A big concern of most is the risk of infection with use of tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) and biologic drugs. While studied in both trials and in post-marketing studies, it is unknown if infection risk is dose-dependent.
Read ArticleChanging my Mind at EULAR
Each year I attend I hope that I’m going to come across something that changes my practice and this year, I think I may have struck gold at a session on Giant Cell arteritis at EULAR in Amsterdam.
Read ArticleUpdate on Osteoporosis
This session was an update on the management of osteoporosis given by Professor Christian Roux from France.
Read ArticleIncreased Risk of Infection in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis
As we gather more knowledge about psoriatic arthritis ( PsA) and psoriasis (PSO) over time, and achieve better outcomes with new therapies, more questions arise about quality of life, survival and comorbidities in PsA and PSO.
Read ArticleEULAR 2018 - Day 2 Report
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.
Read ArticleBiosimilar Data at #EULAR2018
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
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
Read ArticleCancer Therapies Inducing Immune-Related Adverse Events (irAEs)
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.
Read ArticleJAK Inhibition in Autoinflammatory Syndromes Interferonopathies
While many autoinflammatory syndromes are driven and managed with select inhibition of IL-1, IL-18 or IL-6, a subset are driven by type I interferon and are referred to as interferonopathies. These monogenic IFN–mediated disorders present in infancy with fevers, systemic inflammation, an IFN response gene signature, inflammatory organ damage, and high mortality.
Read ArticleTNF Inhibitors Don't Increase Cancer Risk in Children
While the risk of neoplasia with tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) use has been largely nullified in most inflammatory disorders, this risk in children is less certain. However a recent study shows no risk of increased cancer in children treated with TNFi for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (pIBD) and pediatric plaque psoriasis (pPsO).
Read ArticleRisk of Psoriasis Complicating TNF Inhibitor Therapy
A population-based study of claims data from Korea shows that among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients receiving tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) there is a 3.7 per 100 patient-year risk of paradoxically developing psoriasis - a rate that is roughly 3-fold higher than risk in TNFi-naive IBD patients.
Read ArticleCanada Closer to Marijuana Approval
Reuters reports that Canada’s Senate on Thursday voted to legalize recreational marijuana, clearing a major hurdle that puts the country on track to become the first Group of Seven nation to permit national use of the drug.
Read ArticleThe RheumNow Week in Review – Baricitinib Splash (6.7.18)
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.
Read ArticleBlacks Suffer When Pain is Poorly Defined
Racial discrimination was a key feature at a 2-day summit on pain management and the opioid crisis, hosted by the National Institutes of Health on Thursday and Friday.
Read ArticlePrescription Drug Monitoring Programs Fail to Deter Opiate Abuse
A systematic review of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), advocated in the president's Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan, fails to show evidence of efficacy in preventing nonfatal and fatal overdoses.
Read ArticleFDA Approves Low Dose Baricitinib for Rheumatoid Arthritis
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved baricitinib (Olumiant) for use in adults in moderate-to-severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have had an inadequate response to TNF inhibitors (TNFi). It is not approved for use, nor has it been studied, in children.
Read ArticleFDA Approves Baricitinib 2 mg for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved baricitinib (Oluminant) at the lower dose of 2 mg per day for use in adults with with moderate-to-severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have had an inadequate response to commonly-used treatments known as TNF inhibitors.
Read ArticleThe RheumNow Week in Review – Good News for GPA, CZP, Tofa but not ERA (6.1.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews this weeks reports from RheumNow.com, including the risk of autoimmunity with vaccination, early RA outcomes, new FDA approvals for certolizumab and tofacitinib and the risk of death from infection with biologics.
Read ArticleUstekinumab: A Novel Intervention in Giant Cell Arteritis
Treatment of refractory giant cell arteritis (GCA) with ustekinumab (Stelara) showed therapeutic promise as a steroid-sparing agent in a small, open-label study, Irish researchers reported.
Read ArticleHigh anti-TNF Failure Rates with Obesity
A meta-analysis has suggested that obesity is an under-reported predictor of inferior response to tumor necrosis factor blockade (anti-TNF) in a range of inflammatory immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), with the results showing a 60% risk of impaired response to anti-TNF across several
Read Article


