All News
What Changed FDA's Mind About Ilaris for Gout?
The FDA quietly approved the interleukin (IL)-1 inhibitor canakinumab (Ilaris) for gout 10 days ago, with no announcement from either the agency or the drug's manufacturer, Novartis -- leaving outsiders to guess at what changed in the dozen years since the company's first attempt to gain app
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Update on Anti-Drug Antibodies and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
We use biologic agents on a daily basis in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Despite having an expanding array of options, our profession is keen on gaining a deeper understanding of why certain drugs fail and being able to predict the most appropriate next steps in treatment.
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TNR: Decisions in Methotrexate
This Tuesday Night Rheumatology panel discussion on "Methotrexate Decisions" features Drs. Michael Weinblatt, Grace Wright, Richard Conway and Joel Kremer.
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RA Associated Cancer Risk
A large cohort analysis of insured rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients reveals that RA patients have a 1.69 to 2.08 fold higher risk of developing cancer, especially lymphoma or lung cancer, within 1 year of RA diagnosis.
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Machine Learning May Diagnose Psoriatic Arthritis Earlier
A machine learning approach was applied to two different population cohorts and was shown to be effective at the early identification of undiagnosed psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
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RheumNow Podcast – with Special Guest Dr. Peter Nash (9.15.2023)
This week, Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news with special guest, Dr. Peter Nash. They discuss COVID Autoantibodies, SpA life expectancy, HCQ, extraarticular RA and our approach to Early RA referrals and pre-clinical RA.
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Adalimumab Biosimilars: Realizing the Promise of Market Competition
Over four years after adalimumab biosimilars were first launched in the European Union and elsewhere, adalimumab biosimilars have finally become available in the United States.
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TNR: Early RA - Referrals and Treatment
This Tuesday Night Rheumatology was an hour long panel discussion featuring Drs. Jack Cush, Vivian Bykerk, Glen Hazelwood and Martin J. Bergman.
The Panel discussed Rheumatologists views on Early RA referral and intake, initial treatment preferences and views on diagnosing and treating pre-clinical RA.
RA Extra-articular Manifestations Declining
A Mayo Clinic population based cohort study shows the extraarticular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (ExRA) have declined with time; but the increased mortality risk of RA remains unchanged.
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Hydroxychloroquine Adherence Lowers Cardiovascular Risks
Daily hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is better than an apple a day; as a new study shows that adherence to the antimalarial agent significantly lowers future risk of cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.
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RheumNow Podcast – with Special Guest Dr. Janet Pope (9.8.2023)
This week, Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news with special guest, Dr. Janet Pope. They discuss "Not-non-Inferior", large scale genetic screening, Zoster risk w/ newer lupus drugs, tapering, RA referral problems and the TNR webinar session on "ORAL Surveillance Revisited".
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Woeful Rheumatology Referrals
Early diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis (IA) is rooted in patient (self or MD) referrals. A recent analysis shows only a minority of rheumatology referrals had inflammatory arthritis, with only 21% were seen within the first 6 weeks of symptoms.
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Oral Surveillance Changes in Advanced Therapy Use in RA
The safety of tofacitinib and TNF inhibitors was studied in high risk rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the ORAL Surveillance study, which culminated in an FDA warning in January 2021 on the cardiovascular, cancer and VTE risks associated with JAK inhibitor use.
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Aortic Stenosis Risk in RA
A large cohort study has shown that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are at an increased risk of developing aortic stenosis (AS), undergoing aortic valve intervention, or AS-related death.
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ICYMI: ACR Guidelines for Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients with Rheumatic Conditions
The American College of Rheumatology released summaries of two new guidelines for the Screening and Monitoring of Interstitial Lung Disease in People with Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease and for the Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease in People with Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases.
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Hard Decisions in RA (9.1.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow, and introduces our September campaign - "Hard Decisions in RA".
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ACR Position Paper: Cost Impact of Rheumatologic Care
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has published evidence that rheumatologic care can save more than $2700 per patient per year.
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FDA Approves Canakinumab for Gout Flares
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved canakinumab (Ilaris) for the treatment of gout flares in adults who cannot be treated with NSAIDs, colchicine, or repeated courses of corticosteroids. The drug is also indicated for people who could not tolerate or had an inadequate response to NSAIDs or colchicine.
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SGLT2 Inhibitors as Gout Treatment
Patients with gout and type 2 diabetes treated with SGLT2 inhibitors not only had reduced numbers of gout flares, but also lived longer compared with other such patients receiving other medications, researchers said.
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2023 ACR/EULAR Antiphospholipid Syndrome Classification Criteria
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and EULAR have combined efforts to establish an international multidisciplinary Steering Committee to develop classification criteria for the new antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) to be applied in observational studies and clinical trials.
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