The EULAR 2026 Congress in London showcased growing interest in T-cell engagers as a novel strategy to achieve deep B-cell depletion and drug-free remission in refractory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

It’s time for Rheumatology RoundUp from EULAR 2026 from London, UK. Drs. Artie Kavanaugh and Jack Cush review their choice presentations from the meeting, offering their perspectives on impact and applicability.

CAR-T at #EULAR2026 raised as many questions as it answered. Here's what we know, what we're still asking, and why the answers matter.

Psoriatic arthritis develops in approximately 20 to 30 per cent of patients with psoriasis, yet predicting which patients will make the transition and when, has remained one of the most clinically challenging questions in rheumatology. A study presented at EULAR 2026 provides the most granular ultrasound characterisation yet of the journey from psoriasis, through subclinical disease, to early clinical PsA. The study identifies the specific

MAS, the most severe complication of Still’s disease, is increasingly recognized as a cytokine-driven hyperinflammatory state centered on interferon gamma (IFNγ). Therapeutic advances presented at EULAR 2026 demonstrate both consolidation of established pathways and expansion into novel biologic strategies.

The last day in London was exciting as both the Late-Breaking abstracts and new EULAR guidelines were presented. Guidelines presented addressed several significant unmet need areas including PMR, GCA, Takayasu’s arteritis, Vaccinations in Rheumatic patients, Imaging in spondyloarthritis and classification criteria for the Anti-Synthetase Syndrome. Here are but a few of my favorites from a list of many quality sessions.

B-cell targeting has moved to the centre of IgG4-related disease treatment, with inebilizumab, a CD19 depleter, as the recent benchmark. At EULAR 2026, INDIGO tested whether the disease can be controlled by switching B cells off rather than depleting them.

Systemic sclerosis is a rare connective tissue disorder characterised by autoimmune features with vascular manifestations, causing fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. EULAR is focused on systemic sclerosis as the rheumatic disease with the highest morbidity and mortality. New data presented at the EULAR 2026 Congress underscore key complications, and offer hope for a possible new therapeutic strategy.

CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy has rapidly moved into autoimmune disease, driven in large part by striking reports in SLE, where sustained drug-free remission has raised the possibility of a true immune reset. In RA, where multiple effective therapeutic classes already exist, the relevance of such deep immune interventions remains uncertain.

ASAS and the SPARTAN have updated their key classification criteria for axial SpA (axSpA). EULAR has also recently revised their recommendations on the role of imaging in the diagnosis and clinical management of spondyloarthritis (SpA). Both were presented at the EULAR 2026 annual Congress in London.

Day 3 was an interesting mix of posters, oral presentations, and review sessions on many practical subjects like osteoarthritis, large vessel vasculitis, systemic sclerosis, and pregnancy. Here are a few of my recommended abstracts from Friday at EULAR 2026.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a heterogenous group of autoimmune conditions with substantial morbidity. EULAR in collaboration with the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) introduced classification criteria for the major subgroups in 2017,1 but there is a need for contemporary real-world data to understand the burden – and well as new ways of assessing disease activity.

Day two at EULAR 2026 was jammed with sessions on advances in immune checkpoint inhhbitors (and irAEs), Lupus, Scleroderma, RA and IgG4 related disease.  Here are a few of my favorites from Day 2. 

RA-ILD remains one of the most serious extra-articular manifestations of RA, contributing substantially to morbidity and mortality. Two abstracts presented at EULAR 2026 add important insights into identifying patients at risk for RA-ILD and understanding the genetic mechanisms that may underpin disease development.

Presented at EULAR 2026 London, Brepocitinib dual TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor with successful Phase 3 VALOR trial demonstrating significant improvement in skin and muscle symptoms in dermatomyositis (DM).