New Therapy Helps Treat Lupus

Thirty-six percent of patients with lupus remain well after undergoing B-cell depletion therapy, says a British study.

The study, presented at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain, showed that B-cell depletion therapy is a promising therapeutic option for lupus patients who have a historically difficult to treat disease, and potentially could minimize the need for continuous immunosuppressive therapy.

In the study, initiated in 2000, patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus were treated with B-cell depletion therapy using a combination protocol with cyclophosphamide and steroids. Of the 33 patients who had a minimum of 6 months follow-up duration at the time of analysis — mean duration 37 months — 12 patients remained well, according to study co-author David Isenberg, of the University College London.

The study was presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.