Publications
Find coverage of the latest original articles on Lupus, focusing on those with data on therapeutic interventions and those that have clinical impact.
September 2025
Efficacy and safety of upadacitinib as monotherapy or combined with elsubrutinib for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus: results through 104 weeks in a long-term extension study
RMD Open 2025;11:e005742 Doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2025-005742
In this long-term extension of the Phase 2 SLEek study, Merrill et al. report that through an additional 56-weeks of treatment, upadacitinib as monotherapy or combined with elsubrutinib demonstrated sustained or improved efficacy in multiple endpoints in patients with moderately to severely active SLE.
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August 2025
CAR T cell therapy efficacy and safety in SLE: A systematic review and pooled analysis of 47 patients across 10 studies
Doi: 10.1007/s00210-025-04425-z
Sayed OA et al. reported that CAR T cell therapy showed promise in refractory SLE, achieving durable remission with manageable toxicity; however further trials are needed to confirm long-term outcomes. Authors consolidated the current evidence on CAR T cell therapy in the treatment of SLE.
Efficacy, pharmacokinetics and safety of iscalimab (CFZ533) in patients with proliferative lupus nephritis: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase II study
RMD Open 2025;11:e005557 Doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2025-005557
Shen N et al. report that iscalimab was clinically effective and generally well tolerated; in addition, it was devoid of the thromboembolic risk, characteristic of Fc active anti-CD40L therapies.
July 2025
BCMA-targeted CAR T cell therapy can effectively induce disease remission in refractory lupus nephritis
Ann Rheum Dis 2025;0:1−9
Hu et al. report that anti-BCMA only CAR T cell can help LN patients safely and effectively, indicating its potential to be a feasible therapeutic strategy in treating autoimmune diseases with abnormal humoral immune responses.
Effect of long-term voclosporin treatment on renal histology in patients with active lupus nephritis with repeat renal biopsies
Arthritis & Rheumatology 2025; 0:1–7 doi: 10.1002/art.43209
Exposure to voclosporin for a median of 18 months was not associated with onset or progression of nephrotoxicity based on evaluation of histologic compartments and vascular lesions. Rovin et al. characterised the impact of voclosporin on kidney histology in patients with LN who had protocolized repeat kidney biopsies in the AURORA clinical trials.
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February 2025
Efficacy and safety of obinutuzumab in active lupus nephritis
NEJM, 2025. Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2410965
Furie et al. demonstrated that obinutuzumab plus standard therapy significantly improved complete renal response at Wk76 compared with placebo. No unexpected safety signals were identified, though infections and COVID-19-related events were more frequent in the obinutuzumab group.
Belimumab versus telitacicept in sequential treatment after rituximab for refractory lupus nephritis: A real-world multicentre study
Lupus Science & Medicine, 2025;12:e001296 DOI:10.1136/lupus-2024-001296
Chen et al. demonstrated that sequential treatment with belimumab or telitacicept following rituximab (RTX) is a potential therapeutic approach for treating refractory LN. Major AEs included immunoglobin deficiency, respiratory tract infections and urinary tract infections, which are consistent with previous studies.