NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The oral Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Pfizer) does not increase the risk of malignancies, according to pooled data from more than 5000 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In an April 22 online paper in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Dr. Lisy Wang of Pfizer, Groton, Connecticut, and colleagues noted that in RA…
Family History Not Linked to Clinical Presentation, Treatment Response of RA
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Having a family history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) does not appear to influence the clinical presentation or treatment response of RA to standard medications, researchers from Sweden report. “At first we were a bit surprised by our findings,” Dr. Thomas Frisell from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm told Reuters Health by email. “Patients…
Teriparatide to Denosumab Switch Helpful in Osteoporosis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—In postmenopausal osteoporotic women, changing from teriparatide to denosumab benefits bone mineral density (BMD) but switching from denosumab to teriparatide may result in bone loss, according to new research. In a July 3 online paper in The Lancet, Dr. Benjamin Z. Leder, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues noted that many…
Secukinumab Effective for Treating Psoriatic Arthritis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody secukinumab improves signs and symptoms in patients with psoriatic arthritis, according to results from Novartis’ FUTURE 2 trial. In earlier studies, secukinumab has demonstrated superior effectiveness to placebo and etanercept in improving the signs and symptoms of psoriasis. Dr. Iain B. McInnes from the University of Glasgow in…

Phase 3 Studies Evaluate Lesinurad for Gout Treatment
For 12 months, two studies examined the use of lesinurad in combination with allopurinol to treat gout, with patients achieving reduced serum uric acid levels and demonstrating no severe toxicity.

Polymyalgia Rheumatica Misdiagnosis Results in Positive Outcome
In late February 2011, a 68-year-old woman visited the rheumatology outpatient clinic. She had been congenitally healthy and had been a field athlete in her early days. Beginning in early January 2011, she became aware of pain in her neck and both shoulders, with pain spreading to her lower back and thighs. She also became…
Odds Ratio Explained for MRI Imaging in Ankylosing Spondylitis
In the lead article, “Imaging in Ankylosing Spondylitis” (The Rheumatologist, April 2015), Dr. Pedersen states, “vertebral edges with MRI inflammation were three times as likely to develop new syndesmophytes than vertebral edges without inflammation (odds ratio [OR] 3.3; 95% CI: 1.5–7.4).” This statement is incorrect. An odds ratio of 3 does not imply that an…

The ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium: Experts Discuss Jakinibs, Osteoarthritis, Membranous Lupus Nephritis
CHICAGO—With the approval of the Jak inhibitors (i.e., jakinibs) tofacitinib and ruxolitinib—and others being investigated—rheumatologists need to arm themselves with an understanding of these drugs so they can think critically when evaluating them and deciding how to use them, said John O’Shea, MD, chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch of and scientific director…

The ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium: Stem Cell Therapy in Autoimmune Disease Evolution, Insights
CHICAGO—Stem cell transplantation for systemic sclerosis patients has come a long way over the past decade, with more finely calibrated dosing and better patient selection, said George Georges, MD, associate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and associate professor in the medical oncology division at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle,…

The ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium: Patients with Scleroderma, Lung Disease May Benefit from Aggressive Therapy
CHICAGO—Scleroderma patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) might benefit from more aggressive therapy, an expert in the field said in a session on lung involvement in rheumatic diseases at the American College of Rheumatology’s 2015 State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in May. Newer trials—the SERAPHIN trial on macitentan, GRIPHON on selexipag, and AMBITION on an ambrisentan/tadalafil combination—show…
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 252
- 253
- 254
- 255
- 256
- …
- 339
- Next Page »