We must avoid comparing ourselves with others with ANCA vasculitis

It’s hard not to compare ourselves with other people living with ANCA vasculitis who have benefited from medications and treatments. Comparing is human nature — and the cause of much suffering. It’s particularly hard when we’re experiencing a flare or side effects of our tough medication regimens. Seeing people…

A Phase 1 clinical trial assessing SC291, an experimental CAR T-cell therapy that Sana Biotechnology is developing for ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and other autoimmune diseases, is recruiting patients at a number of sites across the U.S. Called GLEAM (NCT06294236), the study started enrolling up to…

A higher risk of death among AAV patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) is significantly associated with older age, episodes of sudden symptom worsening, and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), a common type of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). That’s according to a review of published studies that also pointed…

This February marked four years since the day my world — our world — changed forever. For the previous 11 months, my wife, Pam Squires, and I had been stuck in a relentless loop, a medical maze with no clear answers. Fifty-seven different trips to the hospital or doctor’s office.

Rita Martins is a dedicated clinical pharmacist with extensive experience in primary care and hospital settings. Passionate about patient-centered care, she empowers patients and caregivers through education, ensuring they are actively involved in their treatment journey. With a strong commitment to fostering engagement and delivering high-quality care, Rita strives to…

Researchers have identified new contributors to the abnormal immune responses against the myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzyme that drive ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) in some patients. Specifically, these abnormal responses are marked by high numbers of memory B-cells that produce an antibody type called immunoglobulin M (IgM). Memory B-cells are immune cells crucial to…

The frequency of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) among the Indigenous peoples of Alaska is high compared with other populations worldwide, especially the granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) form of the disease,  a study reports. Native Alaskans and American Indians in Alaska with AAV also may have more severe clinical features at…

Lower blood levels of glutathione peroxidase-3 (GPX-3), an antioxidant enzyme, are significantly associated with greater disease activity and blood vessel damage in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study found. “We demonstrated that [blood] GPX-3 concentration at diagnosis has the potential to be a novel biomarker that can assess…

Long-term treatment with Nucala (mepolizumab) reduces disease activity and helps to prevent progressive organ damage in people with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), the rarest type of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), data from a real-world study show. Finding among patients in Spain also showed that most using Nucala were able…

Among ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients with kidney failure and waiting for a kidney transplant, undergoing the transplant reduces their risk of dying by more than half relative to continuing on dialysis, a replacement therapy. These findings, from a 20-year study of people in France with AAV listed for a…