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      On the final day of ACR25, late-breaking abstract #24 drew particular attention, presenting results from the first positive Phase 3 trials of a potential systemic treatment for a disease that has long lacked one.
      In the phase 2 PAISLEY trial, deucravacitinib met its primary and secondary endpoints, demonstrating efficacy across multiple clinical and patient-reported outcomes. However, the impact on renal function has remained unclear. An abstract presented at ACR provides new insights.
      Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of adult vasculitis in the United States and can be subdivided into those with cranial only symptoms, those with large vessel vasculiti/PMR, and those with mixed features. Non-invasive imaging is key in detecting large vessel involvement in GCA, as many of these patients do not experience signs or symptoms specific to this vascular disease (i.e.
      The multimillion dollar question for inflammatory arthritis prescriptions is: which drug should I use next?
      CAR T cell therapy took the centre stage in 2022 where data pertaining to a successful case series of 5 patients with refractory SLE were published by Prof Schett’s group. Since then, this area of therapeutic has expanded exponentially. Our growing enthusiasm was slightly dampened though when the FDA required all six approved CAR T-cell therapies in oncology to include a black box warning regarding the risk of second primary malignancies in
      Following the landmark case series by the Erlangen group, multiple cellular therapies have entered the race—each with unique targets, constructs, and mechanisms. Yet, a fundamental question remains: How deep is the B-cell depletion? In clinical practice, peripheral blood counts often serve as our surrogate for depletion. But these may only tell part of the story.
      AI continues to move from research labs into rheumatology clinics, promising to reshape how inflammatory diseases are diagnosed and monitored. Ankylosing spondylitis, in particular, poses a diagnostic challenge—its early imaging findings are subtle, and radiographic changes may take years to appear and require specific musculoskeletal radiology expertise. A new deep learning model offers a glimpse into how AI could bridge this diagnostic gap.
      Sjögren's disease has been a difficult space for new FDA approvals. At ACR 2025, two late breaking abstracts have triggered hope for patients suffering from Sjögren's disease.
      Prof. Sandra Navarra and colleagues compared the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus and glucocorticoids vs. mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) as a continuous induction-maintenance treatment for class III/IV+V lupus nephritis.
      Drs. Jack Cush & Arthur Kavanaugh, two of rheumatology’s most trusted voices, provide a breakdown of the latest breakthroughs and hottest topics in rheumatology from the 2025 ACR Convergence meeting in Chicago.
      Here's the last installment of our "ACR Best" abstracts as chosen by the RheumNow faculty.  Most of these were from the final, day 4, but a few were noteworthy holdovers from day 3. Enjoy!
      Dr. Jack Cush recaps ACR2025 with suggestions on how to best learn ACR25 content from RheumNow.com and our articles, videos and podcasts.
      Every year I love the late breaking abstracts. It’s consistently my favourite part of the meeting program, by some distance. Here's why you should love them, too.
      Promising novel mechanisms of action always create excitement, but the immune checkpoint PD-1 has cemented itself in the news far more than most. This fame is primarily from therapeutic inhibition in cancer and rheumatological inflammatory sequelae that emerge, but invoking the inverse and using PD-1 agonism to treat classical autoimmunity has subsequently been making its own mark. Given the evident plausibility, how do we feel about invoking
      Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a burden on the bones—both literally and diagnostically. The disease’s dual nature, marked by chronic inflammation and abnormal new bone formation, complicates the assessment of bone health. While inflammation erodes trabecular bone, syndesmophytes and ligamentous calcifications can falsely elevate spine bone mineral density (BMD) readings on standard dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
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