Dr. Cush highlights reports from this week on RheumNow.com.

The potential association of herpes zoster with giant cell arteritis (GCA) has been a debated topic and certainly has gotten some attention at ACR 2016 this year.

Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) is one of the most difficult autoimmune diseases to treat. In case of major organ involvement (lung, kidney), prognosis is poor and treatment options are limited.

It is well known that ANCA-associated vasculitides can be hard to control and relapses are common. The choice of maintenance therapy is rather limited and therapies are not always effective.

Dr. Philip Mease, MD presented the long-term efficacy and safety data for secukinumab in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at the ACR Annual meeting in Washington, DC.

Washington is always a great city to visit (even though there were a few protesters floating around the streets). I hope the posts I made were of interest to some readers. Here are my top 5 highlights from ACR 2016:

The final day of the 2016 annual ACR meeting saw the return of "Rheumatology Round-up" at 7:30am in Hall D.

The notion of a single biologic targeting two cytokines is intriguing. ABT-122 is a new dual-variable domain immunoglobulin that neutralizes both TNF-α and IL-17A.

Some big highlights from Tuesday at the 2016 ACR/ARHP annual meeting included the PRECISION trial, EXXELERATE trial and the new anti-IL-23 in psoriatic arthritis.

The PRECISION trial was published this week in the NEJM, presented at the Cardiology meetings in New Orleans, and presented today by Dr. Daniel Solomon at the 2016 ACR annual meeting in Washington, D.C. (citation source http://buff.ly/2fUmoqO)

Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) is one of the most difficult autoimmune diseases to treat. In case of major organ involvement (lung, kidney), prognosis is poor and treatment options are limited.

Tocilizumab is in the spotlight at this year’s ACR 2016 meeting but there is still much to learn, including more about its safety profile. In an abstract presented at today’s poster session (Abstract 2618), Morel, et al.

Big highlights from Monday included the Hench Lecture, plenary session abstracts and presentations on drug safety and cost efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis.

It is well known that ANCA-associated vasculitides can be hard to control and relapses are common. The choice of maintenance therapy is rather limited and therapies are not always effective.

The potential association of herpes zoster with giant cell arteritis (GCA) has been a debated topic and certainly has gotten some attention at ACR 2016 this year.

CORRONA, America's largest registry, has numerous presentations for this year's annual ACR/ARHP meeting. See below for the expanse of efficacy and safety issues covered by CORRONA investigators.

On Monday, November 13, there were two new presentations at the annual ACR 2016 meeting on new biologics seeking approval for use in polyarticular juvenile arthritis.

Ixekinumab (IXE) is an IGG4 monoclonal antibody bindings with high affinity to IL -17A.  Currently marketed at Taltz and approved for use in chronic plaque psoriasis, the agent is also being developed for use in psoriatic arthritis.