Marta Figueiredo, PhD, science writer —

People with systemic sclerosis (SSc) show a wide range of eye complications, with dry eye disease, eyelid skin alterations, and retinal abnormalities as the most common, a Hungarian study shows. The variety of eye complications found in these patients reflect the heterogeneity, or diversity, of SSc —…

Patients with scleroderma may need longer-term treatment with Adempas (riociguat) to heal their digital ulcers, results of a Phase 2 clinical trial suggest. Findings were published in the study, “A multicenter randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of riociguat in systemic…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted breakthrough therapy designation to Ofev (nintedanib) as a potential therapy for progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease (ILD) — which also affects systemic sclerosis patients — the treatment’s developer, Boehringer Ingelheim, has announced. Breakthrough therapy designation is given to investigational compounds that have…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ofev (nintedanib) as the first therapy to slow lung function decline in people with interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-ILD), Boehringer Ingelheim announced. SSc affects multiple systems in the body, causing progressive, widespread fibrosis (tissue scarring). Within…

Patient-reported symptoms — specifically those related to blood vessel, skin, and lung function — may be used to indicate changes in disease activity in people with systemic sclerosis (SSc), an Australian study suggests. The study, “Can patient-reported symptoms be used to measure disease activity in systemic…

Specific features of lesions associated with active disease in juvenile localized scleroderma — such as redness but not skin thickness — were identified in a study, and its researchers suggest they may be used to assess disease activity in young patients. The findings may be the first step toward a specific,…

The presence of B-cells — a type of white blood cell — in the skin of scleroderma patients may predict a more aggressive disease and worsening of skin fibrosis, a study shows. The study, “Characterization of inflammatory cell infiltrate of scleroderma skin: B cells and skin score…

The presence of a specific scleroderma subtype and autoantibodies may be reliable factors to identify a distinct cancer risk in patients with scleroderma, according to a large prospective study. The study, “Autoantibodies and scleroderma phenotype define subgroups at high-risk and low-risk for cancer,” was published in…

Almost a quarter of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with reduced gas exchange develop pulmonary hypertension (PH) within three years, according to a recent study that used right heart catheterization to measure pulmonary arterial pressures. Regular tests to assess PH, including right heart catheterization (RHC), might be useful in…

Researchers have discovered that plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) contribute to the skin scarring in scleroderma, making them a possible target for treating the disease. The study, “Plasmacytoid dendritic cells promote systemic sclerosis with a key role for TLR8,” was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.