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RheumNow Podcast- Half-Empty Flu (2.21.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
Read ArticleAdverse Effects of Low-Dose Methotrexate from the CIRT Trial
Low-dose methotrexate (LD-MTX) was studied in high risk cardiac patients in the cardiac intervention trial (CIRT), but was prematurely ended for not showing a change in cardiovascular event rates. Nonetheless this trial studied the safety and adverse event rates of LD-MTX and those results are reported in the current issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
RheumNow Podcast - RWCS Quick Hits (2.14.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the 2020 RWCS meeting in Maui, Hawaii.
Read ArticleStart with Anti-TNF in RA? Not So Fast
The suggestion to hit rheumatoid arthritis (RA) early and hard with biologic therapies itself took a hit in a new study.
Read Article2019 EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The 2019 update to the EULAR recommendations on the use of synthetic and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been published in Annals of Rheumatic Disease - highlighting the efforts of an international consensus committee effort.
In the end, the task force put forth 5 overarching principles and 12 recommendations concerning use of conventional synthetic DMARDs, glucocorticoids, biological DMARDs, biosimilar DMARDs, and targeted synthetic DMARDs (the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors tofacitinib, baricitinib, filgotinib, upadacitinib).
RheumNow Podcast- A Good First Impression (1.24.20)
Dr Jack Cush comments on this week's journal articles, reviews and studies.
Read ArticleACR 2018 - Day 3 Report
Highlights from Tuesday, day 3 of the ACR Annual meeting in Chicago, included the PEXIVAS Study, ACR Reproductive Health Draft Guidelines, and a Proof of concept study
Read ArticleBest of 2019 - War on RA - Part 1: Walk on the Moon
It’s a great time to be a rheumatologist and to manage RA. But, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve got.
Read ArticleBest of 2019 - Are Non-TNF Biologics Superior to TNF inhibitors?
Current ACR and EULAR guidelines list TNF-inhibitors (TNFi) abatacept, rituximab, and tocilizumab as being equally effective after methotrexate or as second line therapies when treating rheumatoid arthritis.
Read ArticleBest of 2019 - Methotrexate and the Risk of Lung Disease
Rheumatology has a comprehensive overview of methotrexate (MTX) and the risk of lung injury, MTX-related pneumonitis and interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Past reports suggest the frequence of MTX-pneumonitis to be between 0.3 and 11.6%; recent studies suggest it may be much lower.
Read ArticleBest of 2019 - The Shame Behind Adalimumab Biosimilars
JAMA has an article this week on the shift from biologic drugs to less expensive therapeutic biosimilar agents. The impact of biosimilars can be easily represented by the shift from adalimuamb - a biologic with nearly $19 billion in sales in 2018 - to any one of the four FDA approved biosimilars for adalimumab (see the daily download for slides on new adalimumab and other biosimilars).
Read ArticleBest of 2019 - SEAM-PsA Study - Does Monotherapy MTX Win Despite Losing to Etanercept in Psoriatic Arthritis?
The SEAM-PsA study examined the efficacy of methotrexate monotherapy, etanercept monotherapy or the combination of MTX and ETN in psoriatic arthritis patients, and found that ETN monotherapy was equivalent to combination therapy - and that both were superior to MTX alone in clinical (ACR and MDA) and radiographic responses.
Read ArticleBest of 2019 - ACR/SPARTAN Recommendations for the Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis and Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in partnership with the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA) and the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN), released the 2019 Update of the Recommendations for the Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and Nonradiographic Axi
Read ArticleUpadacitinib Effective in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Lancet reports that the selective JAK1 inhibitor, upadacitinib, was effective when given to patients with active ankylosing spondylitis.
Read ArticleRheumNow Podcast - The Elusive Hand OA Problem (12.13.19)
Dr. Jack Cush recaps the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
ENTRACTE trial studied the risk of major adverse CV events (MACE) in 3080 RA pts Rx with tocilizumab (TCZ) vs etanercept (ETN), and found no increased risk of MACE in TCZ patients compared to ETN (HR 1.05 (95% condence interval 0.77–1.43). https://t.co/QxOlzfDcZD
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