All News
Tofacitinib shows promise in scleroderma
Systemic sclerosis is one of the rarest autoimmune diseases, affecting roughly 100,000 people (primarily women) in the U.S. With no licensed treatments available for this subset of scleroderma patients, rheumatology researchers are searching for opportunities to use resources and technology that have proven beneficial in treating other autoimmune and rheumatic diseases.
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RheumNow Podcast – “That’s Not My Name” (10.7.2022)
Dr. Jack Cush goes off on "Untitling" (not using proper names/titles) in the clinic, in addition to reports on rheumatologist salaries, new drugs in phase 1-3 development and the range of COVID-19 MSK symptoms -- all from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Causes of Death in Lupus
The California Lupus Surveillance Project has longitudinally followed included systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cases and shown that overall, the leading cause of death was cardiovascular disease (CVD), followed by rheumatic disease and hematologic/oncologic conditions.
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Heavy Metal Rheumatology (9.23.2022)
Below are this week’s highlights from RheumNow, as discussed by Dr. Jack Cush. Thanks to all of you for your kind comments and great reviews of our weekly podcast. Please let us know how we can improve by emailing me or recording your suggestion using the "Ask Cush Anything" link on our website.
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Cancer Risk with Scleroderma
Spanish Scleroderma Registry examined a large cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients showing an increased cancer risk, especially breast, lung, hematologic and colorectal cancer.
The registry included 1930 patients with SSc and were compared to a matched general population to derive the standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and independent cancer risk factors.
Is PMR the Next Indication for Tocilizumab?
About half of patients with steroid-dependent polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) were able to get off steroids altogether when they were started on tocilizumab (Actemra) infusions, which also improved disease control in most cases, a randomized phase III trial showed.
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Clinical Profiles Seen with NXP-2 Antibodies
A recent review of the myositis associated autoantibody NXP-2 profiles its clinical associations with dermatomyositis (DM), calcinosis, severe myositis and, in some reports, with cancer.
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CD19 CAR T Cell Therapy in SLE (9.16.2022)
The big news this week: the approval of deucravacitinib (a new class of drug?) for psoriasis; the 2022 ACR guidance on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis; a national poll of older adults over the age of 50 who claimed self-reported or doctor-diagnosed arthritis; and much more. Let's review these and other news, journal reports and announcements from this past week.
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Does Methotrexate Use Lead to Melanoma?
A systematic review suggests that low-dose methotrexate (MTX) use is associated with an increased melanoma risk, but the absolute risk increase could be considered negligible.
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Voclosporin Efficacy and Safety in Lupus Nephritis
An integrated analysis of two pivotal trials of voclosporin, a calcineurin inhibitor, in lupus nephritis patients saw significant improvement in complete renal responses (CRR) at one year.
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Goofy But True
Dr. Jack Cush discusses declining survival rates in the USA, FDA approvals of new COVID subvariant boosters and other odd and possibly true new research reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Genetic Testing for Autoinflammatory Disease
Not all patients with periodic fevers fit neatly into diagnostic categories. Some can be diagnosed as Still’s disease (based on criteria) while others can be classified as autoinflammatory diseases (AID) and some may be unclassifiable, clinically or genetically.
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EULAR/ACR Classification in MDA5+ Myositis Patients
The diagnosis of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) can be informed by the 2017 EULAR/ACR classification criteria, but their utility in patients with clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) and anti–melanoma differentiation–associated protein 5 (anti–MDA-5)–positive IIM
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Disease Activity Scoring in Adult-onset Still's disease
Still's disease in adults (AOSD) or children (sJIA) can have dramatic symptom severity, making it easy to gauge disease activity and response to therapy, especially at the outset. However, a validated measure of disease activity has not been agreed (for clinical trial and treatment assessments). A new study compares two such activity measuresin a large cohort of Still's patients.
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STING/IFN Activation Promotes ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Progression
Research presented in the Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) may be propagated by pathogenic mechanisms triggering cGAS/STING/IRF3-dependent IFN-I release.
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Managing JDM with Calcinosis
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow and discusses a case of refractory juvenile dermatomyositis with calcinosis.
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Rituximab Efficacy in Systemic Sclerosis
The DESIRES trial studied rituximab (RTX) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and showed clinically significant improvement in skin and lung outcomes after a subsequent 24-week open-label extension phase.
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JUNIPERA Study - Secukinumab in Juvenile PsA & ERA
JUNIPERA study evaluated secukinumab (SEC) in children with enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) and juvenile psoriatic arthritis (JPsA) and was found to be safe and effective in patients with active ERA and JPsA who previous failed to respond to conventional therapy.
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Hit Parade Review (8.12.2022)
We've got a lot to discuss this week: psoriasis; fatigue; sleep; sural nerve biopsies; uveitis and SpA; diet and RA; tofacitinib and the ORAL surveillance study; what not to take with mycophenolate - and more. In what order should these items be discussed? This week the run down is based on popularity, measured by rheumatologist engagements on the website and social media.
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Cytomegalovirus Increases Thromboembolism Risk in ANCA-associated Vasculitis
Infection may play an important role in the genesis of vasculitis and ANCA seropositivity; this report suggests that past cytomegalovirus infection may be a risk in the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis.
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