ACR-Arthritis Foundation Treatment Guidelines for Osteoarthritis

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Today, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in partnership with the Arthritis Foundation (AF), released the 2019 ACR/AF Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip and Knee.

Taltz Shines in Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis

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Ixekizumab (IXE), an interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitor, was recently approved for use in ankylosing spondylitis (also known as radiographic axial spondyloarthritis- axSpA).

RheumNow Podcast - 2019 Rheumatology Year in Review

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from 2019 on RheumNow.com. Topics covered in this annual review include: superheroes lost; venous thromboembolic events and JAKs; free medical tuition; women in rheumatology; 52 new drug approvals in 2019 and 330 drugs with a 2020 price hike; scleroderma disappointments; novel new treatments and newer tests; the boom of Shingrix; RheumNow.Live - and more.

Best of 2019 - Is Methotrexate Necessary with Tofacitinib?

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Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking tofacitinib (Xeljanz) plus methotrexate who achieved low disease activity (LDA) may be able to withdraw from the latter agent without significant worsening of disease activity, a researcher reported at EULAR 2019 in Madrid.

Best of 2019 - War on RA - Part 1: Walk on the Moon

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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.

Best of 2019 - Biologic Safety Guidelines from the British Society for Rheumatology

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In the United Kingdom, NICE has looked to the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) to develop evidence based guidance on the safe use of biologic DMARDs in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Best of 2019 - Ups and Downs with Abatacept

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Two recent studies have examined the effect of starting abatacept upon the risk of serious hospitalized infections or cancer, showing divergent results from claims data analyses.

Best of 2019 - War on RA - Part 3: Useless Drugs

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We have options that are endless – we have 28 biologics in rheumatology; 19 approved for RA in the last 20 years, but 15 of these are me-too copies or biosimilars. We currently have 2 JAK inhibitors and may have 3 or 4 by year end. But what we really need is the right drug, at the right time, in the right patient – but how will we know.

Best of 2019 - Are Non-TNF Biologics Superior to TNF inhibitors?

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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.

Best of 2019 - Methotrexate and the Risk of Lung Disease

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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.

Best of 2019 - The Shame Behind Adalimumab Biosimilars

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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).

Best of 2019 - SEAM-PsA Study - Does Monotherapy MTX Win Despite Losing to Etanercept in Psoriatic Arthritis?

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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.