Publications
Find coverage of the latest original articles on Lupus, focusing on those with data on therapeutic interventions and those that have clinical impact.
March 2025
Belimumab efficacy in mucocutaneous lupus erythematosus: a large post-hoc analysis from five phase III clinical trials
Rheumatol, 2025. Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaf145
Grosso et al. conducted a post-hoc analysis of five phase III trials, including 3086 patients, to evaluate the efficacy of belimumab in improving mucocutaneous manifestations of SLE. The results demonstrated that belimumab significantly improved disease activity as measured by the mcBILAG and mcSLEDAI-2K indices compared with placebo and reduced flare rates in patients with high disease activity and serological positivity.
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Evolution and trajectory of B-cell targeted therapies in rheumatic diseases
Lancet Rheumatol, 2025. Epub ahead of print
Carter et al. review the clinical and mechanistic development of B-cell targeted therapies over the last two decades in autoimmune rheumatic diseases. B-cell depletion depth, repopulation dynamics, and immunogenicity determine long-term efficacy and inform the rationale for emerging
dual-targeted approaches, particularly in systemic lupus erythematosus where belimumab and rituximab combinations show potential to mitigate relapse driven by BAFF.
June 2023
Early Infection Risk in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Treated with Rituximab or Belimumab from the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group Biologics Register (BILAG-BR): A Prospective Longitudinal Study
Lancet Rheumatol 2023;5:e284–92 doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00091-7
Data from a large prospective registry (BILAG-BR) highlight that, compared with standard of care, the serious infection risk was similar between rituximab and belimumab.
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January 2023
New Biologics and Targeted Therapies in Systemic Lupus: From New Molecular Targets to New Indications. A Systematic Review
Joint Bone Spine. 2023.
Systematic review of new biologics and targeted therapies in systemic lupus identifies a highly diversified pipeline of investigational drugs that will hopefully enable a more optimal treat-to-target strategy.
May 2022
Efficacy and Safety of Obinutuzumab in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients with Secondary Non-response to Rituximab
Rheumatology 2022;00:1–5 DOI.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keac150
Arnold, et al. present the first case series reporting the efficacy and safety of obinutuzumab in patients with treatment refractory SLE. The results indicate that, for this group of patients with limited treatment approaches, obinutuzumab could be a potential option.