Lupus News

CHICAGO — Terence Rooney, MD, senior medical director for Eli Lilly, highlights recent findings from an updated integrated safety analysis of baricitinib from a long-term study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated up to six years.

CHICAGO — Hydroxychloroquine has many indications, including systemic lupus erythematosus. In this setting, it has been shown to reduce flares, prevent organ damage, reduce cardiovascular risks, and protect against diabetes. However, recommendations released in 2016 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology emphasize the risk for retinopathy and suggest the dose be limited to 5 mg/kg of body weight.

CHICAGO — In an effort to diminish time-to-diagnosis among black and Latino women at elevated risk for lupus, the ACR and the Lupus Foundation of America unveiled at the ACR/ARHP 2018 annual meeting, a digital campaign intended to raise awareness of lupus in these at-risk populations and provide information on what these women should do next.

CHICAGO — The anti-IL 12/23 p40 monoclonal antibody ustekinumab was associated with improved global and organ-specific systemic lupus erythematosus activity measures that were sustained through 1 year, with a safety profile consistent with the drug’s other indications.

CHICAGO — Despite its long history of therapeutic setbacks and disappointing clinical trials, particularly in recent years, lupus has emerged as one of the ‘hot topics’ of research and drug development at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, with a promising array of phase 2 trials.

CHICAGO — Among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, a daily 4-mg dose of baricitinib was associated with significant clinical improvements compared with placebo, with an acceptable risk-benefit profile, according to data presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Leflunomide was noninferior to azathioprine for the treatment of lupus nephritis with regard to efficacy and safety, and as a maintenance therapy, was associated with a lower rate of relapse and higher rate of complete remission, according to data presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Rheumatologists, as well as the rheumatology specialty as a whole, must become more aware of, and develop treatments and guidelines for, the problem of rheumatologic side effects related to checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to Peter A. Merkel, MD, MPH, of the University of Pennsylvania.

The march of scientific progress usually goes as follows: failure, failure, failure, failure, success, failure, failure, ad infinitum. Progress toward effective drug therapies often follows a similar pattern; yet even among the host of difficult to treat autoimmune diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus has received a disproportionate share of therapeutic setbacks and disappointing clinical trials, particularly in recent years.

The cover story this month brings together a group of leaders in the space of systemic lupus erythematosus care and research who remind us that nothing comes easily in studying this enigmatic disease. However, I would like to digress for a bit to revisit how we have actually come to view this disease in the current light.