Historically, the early approach for treating interstitial lung disease (ILD) due to systemic sclerosis (SSc) involved immunosuppressant therapy, primarily with cytotoxic agents.1 Glucocorticoids in combination with another immunosuppressant agent, such as oral azathioprine or cyclophosphamide, were often used to treat patients with severe, progressive SSc-ILD.2 However, direct evidence to support this therapeutic approach was lacking…
Over the past few years, biosimilars and other new drugs have been introduced to treat rheumatic illnesses. Some of the conditions we treat have numerous drug options, others have few or only off-label options. This series, “Rheumatology Drugs at a Glance,” provides streamlined information on the administration of biologic, biosimilar and small molecule inhibitor drugs…
A recent study details the autoantibodies of patients with myositis, confirming most patients carry these antibodies. The results also describe how myositis-specific autoantibodies can be used to identify distinct clinical subsets of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Monotherapy with the JAK1-selective inhibitor upadacitinib is effective in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who have an inadequate response to methotrexate, according to results from the SELECT-MONOTHERAPY phase 3 trial. As many as two-thirds of patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving methotrexate monotherapy fail to achieve satisfactory disease control. Oral therapy with upadacitinib…
The advent of quality-based healthcare, such as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), requires rheumatology professionals to demonstrate their practice is based on interventions supported by the best available evidence and that their practice, in turn, provides quality care. These requirements have increased the need for methods to measure and quantify…
Over the past few years, biosimilars and other new drugs have been introduced to treat rheumatic illnesses. Some of the conditions we treat have numerous drug options, others have few or only off-label options. This series, Rheumatology Drugs at a Glance, provides streamlined information on the administration of biologic, biosimilar and other medications used to…
Practice-based evidence, like that in the RISE registry, can be used to describe trends in patient care, look at comparative effectiveness of interventions and much more.
CHICAGO—Keith Winthrop, MD, MPH, professor of public health and preventive medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, Portland, Ore., began the vaccination session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting with a review of vaccination timing and targets. He presented a clinically relevant snapshot of the vaccines rheumatologists should consider and emphasized…
CHICAGO—Because the epigenome has been implicated in a variety of rheumatic conditions, a Basic Research Conference was convened on Epigenetics in Immune-Mediated Disease in conjunction with the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Melanie Ehrlich, PhD, professor of human genetics and genomics at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, opened the conference. She has a long…
According to the FDA, an ongoing safety trial found higher dose tofacitinib increased the risks of pulmonary embolism and death in RA patients…