Rheumatoid Arthritis News

Treatment adherence and persistence rates remain relatively low among veterans with rheumatoid arthritis who escalate from methotrexate to triple therapy with sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine, according to recent data in Arthritis Care & Research.

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 — Researchers have observed a “modest uptake” in the use of biosimilars for infliximab in the past 18 months, although all such gains are among prescriptions for Inflectra, one of two biosimilars for the drug available in the United States, according to data presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO – Comorbidities increase disease activity regardless of race/ethnicity or medication use among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, although black patients are more likely to experience comorbidities and less likely to achieve remission, according to findings presented at the ACR Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis experienced onset of efficacy sooner when treatment with baricitinib started earlier vs. later, although improvement in overall disease activity was similar among patients who received earlier vs. later treatment, according to findings presented at the ACR Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — Treatment with low-dose methotrexate did not reduce risk for CV events compared with placebo and conferred elevated risk for nonbasal-cell skin cancers, according to results of the CIRT trial.

CHICAGO — Less flexible work arrangements and more physically demanding jobs were linked to a higher unemployment rate among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to data presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

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 — Although the AVERT-2 study failed to meet the primary endpoint of a statistically significant difference in SDAI ≤3.3 at 24 weeks, Sheila Kelly, MD, the medical team lead for immunoscience at Bristol-Myers Squibb, sat down with Healio Rheumatology to discuss how the results have nevertheless provided new insight into treatment with abatacept in patients with newly diagnosed ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis.

CHICAGO — Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who achieve low disease activity can successfully taper their biologic drugs, saving them money, according to data presented by Patrick Durez, MD, of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.