CCR West turns 40 with ‘cutting-edge’ data on CAR T cells, precision medicine

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy and precision medicine will highlight the agenda at the 40^th annual Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West, set for Sept. 26 to Sept. 29 in San Diego, California.

According to David A. McLain, MD, symposium director of the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, and executive director of the Alabama Society for the Rheumatic Diseases, the meeting will celebrate its ruby anniversary with approximately 450 registered attendees, two-thirds of whom will be onsite — the remaining will be logging in virtually. For those attending in person, the location will be the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel, a short walk from the city’s convention center and just across from the Gaslamp district.

“It is a great hotel in a great location,” McLain said.

Although CCR West officially begins on Thursday, Sept. 26, events will actually kick off the day before, with the North American Young Rheumatology Investigator Forum poster rounding.

“We have a total of 142 abstracts for the poster rounding, the most we have ever had for West,” McLain said.

That Wednesday will additionally feature an immunology boot camp, which will be run by Leonard Calabrese, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic, and Alan Epstein, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania. Both speakers will then return on Thursday with talks on “The art and Science of giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica” and “The Evolving Story of Kevzara,” respectively.

“Dr. Epstein will also run the thieves’ market, as usual, and Dr. Calabrese will give a talk on the science of GCA/PMR,” McLain said.

McLain also highlighted the presence of Georg Schett, MD, of Friedrich-Alexander University, in Germany.

“Dr. Schett will be talking about his cutting-edge research in CAR T cells,” he said. “It could be the future of rheumatology for sure, if the data hold up.”

Since the initial study suggesting the efficacy of CAR T cells in lupus was published in 2022, a flurry of data — and interest — have emerged.

“It should be exciting to see how far they have come,” McLain said. “They have a lot more data than they did even a year ago.”

CCR West attendees on Thursday will in fact get a double shot of Schett.

“He is also giving a talk on the use of imaging in precision medicine,” McLain said. “He will be covering a lot of the newest research.”

Another “cutting-edge” topic to feature at this year’s CCR West will be vagal nerve stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis, as explained by David Chernoff, MD, of SetPoint Medical, in Valencia, California.

“This has been in development for a few years,” McLain said. “It will be interesting to see how this research has progressed.”

Looking deeper into the program, Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, will discuss hot topics in rheumatoid arthritis, while Anja Strangfeld, MD, of the German Rheumatism Research Center, in Berlin, will provide the latest data on clinical outcomes in RA from the German RABBIT register.

“Dr. Strangfeld will talk on clinical outcomes and safety issues in RA,” McLain said.

Meanwhile, Matthew C. Baker, MD, MS, of Stanford University, will deliver a talk on sarcoid disease, according to McLain.

“He will leave right after to go to a world sarcoid convention in Vienna,” he said. “He is an expert.”

Later, Dana DiRenzo, MD, MHS, of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, will cover the topic of Sjögren’s disease.

“She is a great speaker,” McLain said. “They have done a lot of really important research in Sjogren’s at Penn.”

Another great speaker on the program is CCR West veteran Alisa N. Femia, MD, a dermatologist at New York University, who will give two talks on Saturday — “Dermatology for the Rheumatologist” and “Pearls from the Derm-Rheum Clinic.”

“She has won awards as a rheumatology educator even though she is a dermatologist,” McLain said.

ANCA-associated vasculitis is on the docket for Paul Monach, MD, PhD, of Boston University, while Janet Pope, MD, of the University of Western Ontario, will provide attendees with insights into systemic sclerosis.

“Dr. Pope is a fantastic speaker,” McLain said. “She will be giving a talk on predicting outcomes in systemic sclerosis by skin involvement and autoantibodies.”

Additionally, Richard Furie, MD, of Northwell Health, will address topics in lupus, while Michael Clark, MD, MPH, of George Washington University, will shed light on pain management, and Philip J. Mease, MD, of the University of Washington and Swedish Medical Center, in Seattle, will cover the thorny topics of psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

Amanda Nelson, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will give a presentation on osteoarthritis, while Kenneth Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, is on the agenda to discuss osteoporosis.

“We are looking forward to a great meeting,” McLain said.