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Treatment Preferences in Still’s Disease
In July 2018, RheumNow launched a “Live Vote” survey of US and non-US rheumatologists that asked how they diagnose and treat systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), also known as “Still’s disease”. It appears that many prefer to start therapy with an IL-1 inhibitor, after a course of steroids and MTX/DMARD. Yet, these findings suggest there are significant unmet needs in the diagnosis and management of sJIA patients.
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2018-2019 ACIP Recommendations for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination
The current issue of the CDC's MMWR reviews the new seasonal recommendations for vaccination against influenza. This is an update to the previous recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
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RheumNow Week in Review – How Not to Treat Hand OA (8.24.18)
Dr. Jack Cush comments on the last week's news and journal highlights on RheumNow.com.
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ACR Meets With HHS Secretary Azar to Discuss Step Therapy Concerns
Yesterday, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) met with U.S.
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Managing Comorbidity and Poor Drug Responses
Comorbidity is pervasive and complicates medical care in general. It can be a by-product of aging. It may result from drug therapy or an inciting disease process and may be part of the constellation that defines the primary disorder. A growing body of evidence that suggests that comorbidity has a significant dampening effect on drug responsiveness and, adds to poorer outcomes in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
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Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors Do Not Increase the Risk of Cancer Recurrence
There is a large body of data that shows tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) confers the same risk as that seen in RA - meaning there is no increase over and above that incurred by inflammation and RA itself. There are fewer studies about whether it is s
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Success of Stopping Depends on the Biologic
The type of biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) being used and remission duration were important factors predicting whether remission was maintained among patients with rheumatoid arthritis after cessation of the biologic, a Japanese study found.
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Higher Infection Rates for Infliximab in Psoriasis
A prospective study of psoriasis patients from the British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register demonstrated that infliximab therapy yielded 2-3 times more serious infection than seen in those treated with non-biologic DMARDs or methotrexate (MTX).
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The RheumNow Week in Review – Lupus in the News (7.27.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Consensus Guidelines for Methotrexate in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
A consensus panel was convened to develop consensus-based clinical and therapeutic recommendations for the use of methotrexate (MTX) in the management of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) patients.
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Biomarker Combo Predicts TNF Inhibitor Responses
Based on clinical trial data, patients starting tumour necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (TNFi) have roughly a two-thirds chance of achieiving a good clinical response. French investigators have studied a series of potential biomarkers and surmised that the combination of baseline prealbumin, platelet factor 4 and S100A12 can predict a 78% response to TNFi in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
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Defining Refractory RA by Biologic Use
A study from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR) has shown that biologic refractory disease is seen in at least 6% of patients who have ever received a biologic DMARD (bDMARDs).
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IL-23 Inhibitor Fails in Ankylosing Spondylitis
A study of the IL-23 risankizumab in active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients failed to show efficacy and did not meet primary efficacy endpoints in a 6-month trial.
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The RheumNow Week in Review – Life Savers for Rheumatologists (6.29.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews selected news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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NPF Dietary Recommendations for Psoriatic Disease
The National Psoriasis Foundation has released dietary recommendations for adults with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, based on a systematic review of the current literature, with the strongest focus on weight reduction for those who are overweight or obese.
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Five Barriers to Biosimilar Adoption in the US
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.
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Enthesitis in PsA: A New Focus of Treatment?
Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) whose disease manifestations include enthesitis showed significantly greater responses to interleukin (IL)-23 inhibition than to blocking tumor necrosis factor (TNF), suggesting the possibility that treatment decisions in the future might be guided by speci
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Seronegative and Seropositive Rheumatoids Respond Equally Well
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).
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Could Measuring Drug Levels with TNF Treatment Hurt Your Patients?
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).
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TNF 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).
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