How does a rheumatologist treat a pregnant woman when many medications are not approved for pregnancy or safety data are limited?
Belimumab Promising for Children with Lupus Nephritis
Belimumab is now FDA approved to treat children aged 5 years and older with active lupus nephritis, providing treatment options for pediatric patients at risk of developing renal damage.
What’s New in SLE: Pathogenesis & Novel Therapies
Thomas Dörner, MD, reviewed the current state of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) management, providing updates on novel therapies and insights into the pathogenesis of SLE.
Difficult-to-Treat Lupus: When & How to Use New Therapies
Clinicians have numerous treatment options for SLE; in a EULAR 2022 session, some of the newer therapies were reviewed.
The Great Debate: Belimumab vs. Voclosporin in Lupus Nephritis
ACR Convergence 2021—The Great Debate at the meeting sparked a thoughtful discussion on the future of lupus nephritis treatment strategies, with experts saying clinicians should be open to new ways of approaching patient care. In the past year, approvals of the monoclonal antibody belimumab and the calcineurin inhibitor voclosporin for use in lupus nephritis (when…
A 2021 Update on Lupus Management & Treatment
At the 2021 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Saira Sheikh, MD, associate professor of Medicine and director of the Rheumatology Lupus Clinic, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, provided an update on the past, present and future of the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This year, hydroxychloroquine received a great deal of attention, given early…
FDA Approves Belimumab & Voclosporin for Lupus Nephritis
In December, the FDA approved belimumab, the first drug approved to treat lupus nephritis, an historic action that was rapidly followed in January by the approval of a second treatment for lupus nephritis, voclosporin.
Monthly Belimumab Infusions Preserve Kidney Function in Some Lupus Patients
(Reuters Health)—Intravenous belimumab combined with standard lupus therapy can help preserve kidney function in patients with active lupus nephritis and cut the odds of death or a renal-related event by half, a phase 3 multinational study has concluded.1 After two years of therapy, 43% of 224 volunteers getting the drug monthly showed a renal response…
Lupus Treatments: Into the Future
As the 21st century unfolds, rheumatologists will most likely transition from prescribing lupus patients broad immunosuppressants to more targeted treatment approaches. But to make this happen and advance research, the challenges experienced in lupus clinical trial design must be addressed…
Study Probes Whether Belimumab Can Lower Vasculitis Relapse Rate
In an international clinical trial, adding the drug belimumab to standard maintenance therapy for patients in remission with vasculitis did not lower the relapse rate. The double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated the safety and efficacy of belimumab as adjunctive therapy to maintain remission in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis (AAV). Results of the multi-center, industry-sponsored…