News

A clinical trial will assess whether low-dose glucocorticoids and Rituxan (rituximab) may be used as a safer way to treat ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Researchers at Chiba University Hospital in Japan believe the regimen may be effective and cause fewer side effects compared to current treatment approaches. The trial particularly…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Nucala (mepolizumab) as an add-on to standard care for treating eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), previously called Churg-Strauss syndrome. “Patients suffering from EGPA too often face a frustrating journey from a delay in receiving a proper diagnosis to having…

Persistent hematuria (blood in urine) in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients who achieved clinical remission after immunosuppressive therapy is not rare and may be due to chronic renal damage or low-grade active renal disease, a retrospective study has found. The study, “Persistent hematuria in patients…

A study has found that the severity of anemia in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated renal vasculitis is associated with increased renal dysfunction and shorter survival rates. The study, “Anaemia is an essential complication of ANCA-associated renal vasculitis: a single center cohort study,” was published in…

The addition of azathioprine, an immunosuppressant, to a glucocorticoid treatment regimen does not improve remission rates for patients with non-severe systemic necrotizing vasculitides (SNVs), a new study shows. The study, “Adding Azathioprine to Remission-Induction Glucocorticoids for Eosinophilic Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss), Microscopic Polyangiitis, or Polyarteritis Nodosa Without…

Patients are more likely to develop anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) that affects their kidneys in the winter months, likely due to environmental factors that promote disease-triggering infections, a study reports. The study, “Seasonal variations in the onset of positive and negative renal ANCA-associated vasculitis in…

While the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis has taken strides away from highly toxic immunosuppressants to include an array of approaches based on biological drugs, there is plenty of room for treatment improvement. Research at the Mayo Clinic is focusing on approaches to prevent relapses of inflammatory disease activity. In a…

Tailoring infusions of Rituxan (rituximab) according to ANCA status and/or levels of CD19-positive lymphocytes has no significant impact on the number of relapses experienced by ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients compared to those given systematic infusions, according to a Phase 3 trial. These findings were announced at the recent American…

A mutation of the ETS1 gene increases the risk of Japanese developing an inflamed blood vessel condition known as granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a study shows. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis is one of three versions of ANCA-associated vasculitis. The ETS1 mutation, which leads to lower levels of the ETS1 protein, is common in people with…

Combining Genentech’s Rituxan (rituximab) with glucocorticoids is an effective way for people with a flare-up of ANCA-associated vasculitis to return to remission, a Phase 3 clinical trial indicates. The RITAZAREM trial dealt with relapses of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, whose shorter name is ANCA-associated vasculitis, or AAV. Genentech presented the…