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Better Outcomes with Modern T2T in Pregnancy
With the expansion of knowledge regarding the safety of newer agents in pregnancy comes the PreCARA study showing that when pregnancy is planned and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are treated with a modified treat-to-target (T2T) approach, superior outcomes can be anticipated.
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Progression from Psoriasis to Psoriatic Arthritis
The question of whether psoriasis is a state or pre-clinical psoriatic arthritis has been addressed by several studies; with one suggesting that biologic use in psoriasis may aver the future development of psoratic arthritis (PsA).
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FINCH 1 Trial Filgotinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis
The Annals of Rheumatic Disease has published the results of a head-to-head trial showing that the Janus kinase-1 (JAK1) preferential inhibitor filgotinib was superior to a tumour necrosis factor-α inhibitor (adalimumab) in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on methotrexate (MTX).
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Treatment of MIS-C COVID in Kids
The NEJM has published results of a real-world efficacty trial showing that COVID infected children with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) respond better to initial IVIG plus glucocorticoids (than IVIG alone) which was associated with less subsequent cardiovascular complic
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Do B-cell targeted therapies still have a place for the treatment of Sjogren’s?
B-cells play a major role in the pathogenesis of primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) through antibody-dependent and antibody-independent functions, as well as evident by progression to B-cell malignancies/lymphoma. Hence, targeting B-cell is attractive. Despite efficacy of B-cell depleting therapy with rituximab in Phase II trials and case series, it failed to meet its primary endpoint when investigated in two Phase III trials. It is worth noting that the primary endpoint used in both trials was a subjective measure. Post-hoc analyses however showed greater improvement in objective measures such as salivary flow rate and salivary gland ultrasound score in RTX-treated group vs placebo.
Therefore, do B-cell targeted therapies still have a place for the treatment of pSS?
Reader beware! Interpretation of effectiveness & safety of JAKi vs bDMARDs in real world data
Multiple studies compared effectiveness, retention and/or safety of biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) and JAK inhibitors (JAKi) at EULAR 2021.
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EULAR 2021 – Day 4 Report
It's been nearly two weeks since EULAR 21 ended. There were several presentations on the last day; notably, the late breaking abstracts and others. Here are a few of my favorites from Day 4, the final day of the meeting.
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Problems at the FDA
"While the Food and Drug Administration decision on new drugs usually follows the recommendations of the advisory committee..."; this oft used proviso is used to either indicate a pending FDA decision or an FDA decision that is contrary to the recommendation of the advisory committee convened by
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RheumNow Podcast - Best of EULAR 2021
Dr. Jack Cush reviews and highlights his favorite abstracts and presentations from last week's virtual EULAR 2021 meeting.
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Q-DAPSA for Measuring Disease Activity in PsA
Given its multiple domains, there remains much discussion over the best disease activity scoring method in PsA. The proverbial "holy grail" would be a measure that is quick, intuitive, domain comprehensive and validated.
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Lessons learned in SLE
An analysis of SLE samples from SLE 1760 patients with active disease from RCTs illustrated several known and some new targets for SLE treatment (POS0351).
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Combination vs. Sequential Therapy for the Treatment of Lupus Nephritis
Combination disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy may not be only for rheumatoid arthritis; combining disease modifying agents may be the path to better renal response.
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EULAR 2021 - Day 3 Report
Here are a few notable presentations from this past Friday, Day 3 of the EULAR 2021 virtual meeting.
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How do we personalize psoriatic arthritis treatment?
It seems like every conference we are presented with data on the newest biologic for treatment of psoriatic arthritis, but the question is, do we need it?
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Israel provides COVID vaccine answers for rheumatic disease patients
The question as to how autoimmune rheumatic disease patients fare with the COVID vaccine is one being asked in rheumatologists’ offices everywhere this year, and at the EULAR 2021 Virtual Congress, data presented from Israel, one of the first countries to vaccinate on a br
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RA after 70: Too Old for bioDMARDs?
In RA, the two most common peaks of incidence are thirties and fifties; however a significant percentage of patients above the age of 70 present with active RA -of early or later onset- and require adapted treatment.
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