ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Rheumatologists and patients have struggled with a lack of new therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind the disease helps shed light on potential treatments. That was the theme of the ACR Convergence session State of the Art: Lupus—The Future Is Now, led by Peggy…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Held Nov. 5–9, the ACR’s first fully virtual annual meeting is a wrap, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to catch the highlights. Dozens of research abstracts on various aspects of lupus were presented during the fully virtual event, and David S. Pisetsky, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and immunology at Duke…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—At the annual meeting’s second Plenary Session, Saturday, Nov. 7, speakers highlighted phase 2 results of a potential new biologic for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), as well as data on remission maintenance in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after withdrawal of etanercept or methotrexate. Phase 2 Trial of Monoclonal Antibody for Lupus (LILAC) Several converging…
ATLANTA—At the ACR/ARP 2019 Annual Meeting, several widely renowned experts across an array of specialty subjects provided a comprehensive and compelling review of advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of a number of rheumatologic conditions. Sjögren’s Syndrome Frederick Vivino, MD, FACR, chief of rheumatology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and professor of clinical medicine…
ATLANTA—When it comes to identifying reliable biomarkers that can predict worsening illness or help point to proper treatment, it’s hard to imagine a more vexing disease than systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), said Jill P. Buyon, MD, director of the Lupus Center at New York University Langone Medical Center, in the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting session…
A recent gene expression analysis found an enriched downstream interferon signature, with predominantly IFNB1 signatures in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The study also found lower expression of all downstream interferon signatures in the kidneys of lupus nephritis patients…
CHICAGO—When Richard Furie, MD, was first asked to speak about lupus at the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, held April 5–7, organizers suggested he discuss low disease activity and classification criteria. But Dr. Furie, a professor of medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, N.Y., and a veteran investigator…
Type I interferon appears to play a role in disease susceptibility and pathogenesis in several classic connective tissue diseases, at least in some patients. Below, I present evidence supporting this connection, explore potential missing links in pathogenesis and discuss biological treatments that target the pathway. The Type I Interferon Pathway Interferons are a class of…
Research into lupus treatments suffered a setback after the failure of anifrolumab in clinical trials. However, during the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Richard Furie, MD, outlined the possibilities of multiple new lupus therapies under investigation…
(Reuters)—AstraZeneca’s experimental drug anifrolumab failed to meet its main target in a late-stage clinical study treating patients with moderate to severe lupus, the British drugmaker said on Friday. AstraZeneca said the drug did not meet the main goal in the final-stage of one of the two clinical trials under the TULIP program, failing to show…