VIDEO: Genetics, environment likely factor in systemic sclerosis expression
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DESTIN, Fla. — Genetic and environmental factors, as well as autoantibodies, “likely play a role” in the expression of systemic sclerosis, according to Zsuzsanna McMahan, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Speaking at the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology East, McMahan provided updates on the pathogenesis and treatment of SSc.
“We began by talking about the heterogeneity among patients with systemic sclerosis and realizing that there are probably many different underlying biological mechanisms that are driving this disease, and that genetic factors, epigenetic factors, environmental factors and autoantibodies all likely play a role in the clinical expression of the disease,” she told Healio.
She added that some of the novel therapies that have been approved in the last year, specifically for lung disease in scleroderma, include tocilizumab (Actemra, Genentech) and nintedanib (Ofev, Boehringer Ingelheim).
“Tocilizumab is approved more for the inflammatory phenotype of scleroderma, whereas nintedanib is a great add-on medication to CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil, Genentech) for patients who have refractory lung disease,” McMahan said.
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Healio Interview
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