Laura Joszt, MA

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines that are leading the pack are utilizing a new vaccine technology that has never been approved for human use by the FDA. As a result, there are a lot of unknowns.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), because inflammation plays a pivotal role in the development of CVD. However, there is a need for greater improvement of CVD risk prevention.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, clinics have closed to varying degrees. As clinics look to reopen or welcome back patients after a COVID-19 infection, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released advice on strategies for reopening practices as the pandemic continues.

Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) have high disease burden, and management of their disease can vary widely to include watchful waiting, phlebotomy, or drug therapy.

Patients who have both skin and joint symptoms with psoriatic arthritis have greater disease burden and worse quality of life compared with patients who have joint-only involvement.

The race for a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is one of the most urgent public health challenges, with multiple vaccine candidates entering phase 3 trials and case counts around the world steadily climbing. MJH Life Sciences™ will host a free webinar with the top minds in infectious disease, virology, and vaccinology to discuss the latest trial information on vaccines.

In children with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, tocilizumab can cause serious adverse events (AEs), with children who were younger at disease onset and at time of tocilizumab initiation especially affected.

Transferring from pediatric to adult care can result in difficulties for patients with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus.

In 2 studies of secukinumab use in real-world settings, researchers identified the usefulness of dose escalation in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), as well as the safety, retention rate, and factors associated with drug survival among patients with PsA and ankylosing spondyloarthritis.

Umbilical cord blood provides a readily available source of stem cells to provide better access to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to safely and effectively treat various noncancerous genetic disorders in children.

Comorbidities are common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and the presence of comorbidities reduces the chance of remission and is associated with worse functional status and disease activity measures.

Two experimental vaccines, one from AstraZeneca and the other from CanSino Biologics, have shown promising results against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a phase 1/2 trial and a phase 2 trial. Results for both were published in The Lancet.

Psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis have high economic burdens and the total annual costs were similar between the 2 diseases, but the combination of both yielded the highest costs, according to an abstract published at the European League Against Rheumatism annual meeting.

Promoting engagement in physical activity in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can provide small benefits, according to results from a proof of concept study published in Musculoskeletal Care.

Research identified a new type of cell that is in the blood during the period before a rheumatoid arthritis flare and may be used to predict a flare in the weeks before one occurs, according to research published in New England Journal of Medicine.

Although early diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis is crucial for patients to receive timely access to care and effective treatment, these patients experience a diagnostic delay of more than 7 years, on average.

Using mindfulness meditation apps may provide an effective way to self-manage and reduce depression and anxiety in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPNs).

Two abstracts presented at the European Hematology Association's annual meeting evaluated the frequency of myeloid malignancies in patients with autoimmune disease and the impact autoimmune diseases have on patients with sickle cell disease.

A new oral therapy approved by the FDA will provide patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, who typically visit a health care facility for intravenous treatment, with an oral at-home option that can be beneficial during the coronavirus pandemic.

Treatment options for psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis are increasing, and with studies already identifying response predictors for tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, there is a need to predict response to the interleukin-17A inhibitor secukinumab.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may consider hydroxychloroquine essential to their treatment, but after the drug was identified as a potential therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), patients with SLE experienced reduced access to the treatment, which could increase the risk of SLE flare.

FDA has lifted a partial clinical hold on a phase 2 trial of a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) Hodgkin lymphoma from ADC Therapeutics. The trial of camidanlumab tesirine (Cami), an antibody drug conjugate that binds to CD25, is evaluating the safety and efficacy of the therapy and is intended to support the submission of a Biologics License Application to the FDA.

A 52-week interim analysis confirmed previous findings highlighting the benefits of ruxolitinib in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who are resistant or intolerant to hydroxyurea. The full study findings with a 24-month follow-up are still to come.

Patients with HIV who have been heavily treated but are failing their current regimen have few treatment options and are at risk of progressing to AIDS and death.

Researchers identified a protein that can not only worsen skin inflammation but also plays a key role in damaging joints and bones of patients with psoriasis.

Immunotherapy and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy are new and important treatments revolutionizing care of some cancers; however, their side effects can be very different than what is seen in traditional approaches, such as chemotherapy.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency has led to an increased use of telemedicine services as CMS instituted reimbursement parity with in-person services. In a new position statement, the American College of Rheumatology has stated support for continuing to use telemedicine once the COVID-19 emergency passes.

Treating children with aggressive B-cell lymphoma with rituximab can improve cure rates to up to 95%.

Among patients with rheumatic diseases, medication nonadherence remains a significant problem because of a lack of standardization and guidance on terminology, measurement, and outcome selection, according to an abstract presented at the European Congress of Rheumatology of the European League Against Rheumatism.

Patients with steroid refractory acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) have a better overall response rate (ORR) when treated with ruxolitinib compared with the best available therapy, according to results from a phase 3 trial presented at the European Hematology Association’s annual meeting.