Subcutaneous tocilizumab is the first biologic agent approved by the FDA treat patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease.
Evaluation & Treatment of Systemic Sclerosis-ILD in the New Decade
ACR Convergence panelists discussed how to monitor SSc-ILD patients for ILD severity & the brightening prospects for therapy.
A Combined Immunosuppressive Regimen for ILD MDA5-Positive Dermatomyositis
Interstitial lung disease accompanied by anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 positive dermatomyositis is often rapidly progressive and associated with poor prognosis. In this study, a combined immunosuppressive regimen of high-dose glucocorticoids, tacrolimus and intravenous cyclophosphamide proved more effective than treatment with high-dose glucocorticoids and stepwise addition of an immunosuppressant in a historical control group.
Nintedanib Slows Lung Deterioration in General Fibrosing Interstitial Lung Disease
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Nintedanib dramatically slows lung deterioration in patients with progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases, according to a new randomized study.1 Nintedanib has already been shown to be effective against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The new trial, funded by the manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and presented t the European Respiratory Society International Congress 2019 in…
Catch Your Breath: Insights into ILD in RA Patients
Detecting interstitial lung disease in RA patients can be challenging. But evaluating risk factors and the use of imaging can help clinicians identify and manage this condition in patients…
Myositis Autoantibodies as Biomarkers
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…
MUC5B Promoter Variant Associated with RA with Interstitial Lung Disease
New research has linked the risk of developing interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients with the promoter variant in MUC5B, which may also contribute to the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and an unsual interstitial pneumonia seen by high-resolution CT scan…
4 Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy Principles, & New Drug Info
CHICAGO—Amid what she called a “dizzying array of choices” for rheumatoid arthritis (RA)—from anti-TNF and anti-IL6-receptor therapies to B cell depletion to new biosimilar options—disease treatment should still revolve around several basic concepts, an expert said at the ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April. Joan Bathon, MD, chief of rheumatology at Columbia University in New…
Treatment Tips for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension & ILD
CHICAGO—About 30 years ago, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) began to outpace renal crisis as the main causes of death in scleroderma (SSc). But treating these lung complications has proved vexing for clinicians. There is no easy way to predict who will develop PAH. There is no telltale antibody and no…
CCL2 Cytokine Serves as Biomarker in Interstitial Lung Disease
A recent prospective, observational cohort study of potential clinical biomarkers for progression to interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with early systemic sclerosis (SSc) found that higher levels of CCL2 circulating in their plasma predicted both faster ILD progression and poorer survival rates than in those with lower levels.1 CCL2, also known as monocyte chemoattractant…