Recent research reinforces the finding that psoriasis patients have a slightly increased risk of cancer, specifically keratinocyte cancer and lymphomas. However, the study found no association between cancer and the use of biologic treatments in this patient population…
Cancer and autoimmunity have a complex relationship. In a presentation, Ami Shah, MD, MHS, discussed how to use autoantibodies as tools for cancer risk stratification, how to approach cancer screening in individuals with new-onset disease and more…
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Cancer patients with COVID-19 who were treated with a drug combination promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump to counter the coronavirus were three times more likely to die within 30 days than those who got either drug alone, U.S. researchers reported on May 28. The preliminary results suggest doctors may want to refrain from…
A 59-year-old woman presented to our rheumatology clinic with a six-month history of a symmetric polyarthritis. She initially experienced pain in both knees. As time progressed, she began to notice pain in her ankles, hips, shoulders, hands and feet. She experienced joint stiffness lasting for more than 30 minutes every morning. She also described worsening…
Angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) is an aggressive, peripheral T cell, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with an incidence of 0.05 cases per 100,000 person-years in the U.S., and it typically manifests in adults older than 60 years.1,2 AITL was previously known as angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy with dysproteinemia, immunoblastic lymphadenopathy or lymphogranulomatosis X, due to the hypothesis that the…
ATLANTA—When it comes to treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, most clinicians agree: One size does not fit all. Many treatment options exist, and seldom is there 100% consensus on what the first course of action or general approach should be. In the face of such variability, four clinicians took the stage at the 2019 ACR/ARP…
Rituximab-abbs, which is biosimilar to rituximab, is now available in the U.S. to treat specific cancers…
ATLANTA—One of the hottest topics in medicine is the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy. However, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are associated with the therapy, and when things go wrong, they can go very, very wrong, said Ryan Sullivan, MD, during the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting in November. “The guiding principle of cancer immunotherapy is [that]…
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) or programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) axes have revolutionized therapy and improved survival in advanced cancers. However, these immune system modulators also lead to immune-related adverse events (IRAEs).1,2 In clinical trials, IRAEs mainly involved the gastrointestinal tract, skin, endocrine glands, liver and lung,…
A 54-year-old African American man arrived at the emergency department with the acute onset of a tender mass on the left side of his neck. It had been getting progressively larger for the preceding two days. History & Examination His history included chronic right hip osteoarthritis with two surgeries performed five years prior. At his…