Lupus News

With the need for rheumatologists expected to outpace national demand by 2030, the necessity to get more physicians into the field becomes more pronounced with each passing year. Behind the scenes, however, there remains an urgent need for additional clinician-scientists to drive research — particularly in areas like lupus, a condition which has received a disproportionate share of therapeutic setbacks and disappointing clinical trials in recent years.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is associated with an increased risk for 16 cancers, including Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma, but a decreased risk for prostate cancer and cutaneous melanoma, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

The FDA granted fast track designation to baricitinib for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus, according to the drug’s manufacturer.

Researchers found that the most prevalent adverse effect linked to immune checkpoint inhibitors was inflammatory arthritis, and although most patients received long courses of immune suppression, few required checkpoint inhibitor discontinuation, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

CHICAGO — Systemic lupus erythematosus is the number one cause among autoimmune diseases of lost potential life years in women aged 15 to 24 years, and is among the leading causes of death in general in women aged 15 to 44 years, according to data presented by Ram R. Singh, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles.

CHICAGO — Women who experienced physical or emotional abuse as a child demonstrated a significantly increased risk for incident systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data presented by Candace H. Feldman, MD, ScD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

CHICAGO — A “culturally competent” and well-designed online resource, called “Be Fierce. Take Control,” was successful in raising awareness of systemic lupus erythematosus among at-risk populations, including young black and Latina women, according to data presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting by R. Paola Daly, MPH, of the Lupus Foundation of America.

I always look forward to the ACR yearly review course for an engaging way to get updates on various topics in the field of rheumatology. It’s also a way to reminisce what it’s like to be a high primary school student again and makes you wonder how you were ever able to sit in the same seat all day long, day after day!

CHICAGO — Patients with high-risk systemic lupus erythematosus have a lower risk for hospitalization and a shorter length of stay as their access to rheumatology care improves, according to data presented by Allen P. Anandarajah, MBBS, of the University of Rochester Medical Center.

CHICAGO — Lupus nephritis is recurring less frequently among patients with end-stage renal disease who undergo kidney transplant, possibly due to improved immunosuppression, according to data presented by Debendra N. Pattanaik, MBBS, MD, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.