Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

Health Canada has approved Ofev (nintedanib) as a treatment to slow the decline of pulmonary function in people with scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). The approval makes Ofev, by Boehringer Ingelheim, the first treatment for people with SSc-ILD available in Canada. It follows the therapy’s recent approval in the…

Most people with scleroderma develop skin lesions within one year after the onset of Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP), a condition in which the fingers and toes feel numb, prickly, and frigid in response to cold temperatures or stress, a 10-year follow-up study reports.  The findings also showed a continuous…

Treatment for one year with the immunosuppressant Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) improves lung function in scleroderma patients with interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) — but these benefits wear off after stopping treatment, data from Phase 3 trials show. The study, “Cyclophosphamide for Systemic Sclerosis-related Interstitial Lung Disease: A Comparison of…

The European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group (EUSTAR) revised activity index scale, known as EUSTAR-AI, is the best tool for predicting the short-term risk of disease progression and severe organ involvement in scleroderma (SSc) patients diagnosed within the last five years, a study reports. It had a better predictive…

Loss of muscle mass and strength — known as sarcopenia — may affect up to 55% of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a study suggests. Moreover, sarcopenia was found to be associated with several clinical and nutritional parameters of disease severity. The study, “Sarcopenia in systemic sclerosis: the impact…

Levels of a pro-inflammatory signaling molecule, called interleukin (IL)-6, are significantly high in skin lesions and blood samples of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), especially among those with diffuse cutaneous SSc, a small Japanese study reports. The study, “IL-16 expression is increased in the skin and sera of…

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with elevated protein in their urine (proteinuria) who are using angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (ACEi) are at higher risk of developing scleroderma renal crisis (SRC), a retrospective study shows. The study, “Systemic sclerosis mediations and risk of scleroderma renal crisis,” was published in the…

Rituximab, an immunosuppressant antibody designed to target immune B cells, has widespread effects and decreases subtypes of other immune cells called T cells in the skin and blood of people with systemic sclerosis (SSc), new research shows. The study, titled “B cell depletion treatment decreases CD4+IL4+ and CD4+CD40L+…

High levels of two proteins in the blood, called KL-6 and CCL-18, may work as biomarkers for predicting disease severity and progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, Phase 2 trial data suggest. The study, “Pneumoproteins KL-6 and CCL-18 Predict Progression of Interstitial Lung Disease…

Tagraxofusp, a medicine approved in the U.S. under the name Elzonris to treat a rare blood cancer, may help decrease levels of immune cells that promote inflammation in systemic sclerosis (SSc), new preclinical data suggest. The results were shared in a poster, “CD123+ plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) from…