News

Older men with diffuse cutaneous systemic scleroderma (dcSSc) have more estradiol, a form of estrogen, compared with postmenopausal women with the disease, which may explain why scleroderma tends to be more severe in men, a study has found. Researchers also found that male patients with higher levels of…

Targeting a signaling molecule called CCL24 with a new antibody was seen to lessen inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) in a mouse model of systemic sclerosis (SSc), research shows. The study, “Blockade of CCL24 with a monoclonal antibody ameliorates experimental dermal and pulmonary fibrosis,” was published in journal Annals…

Michigan Medicine researchers have been awarded approximately $10.2 million by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence to explore potential treatments for autoimmune diseases, including scleroderma. Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of NIH, the grant will be used to…

The mortality rate among people with systemic sclerosis (SSc) has not changed over time and continues to be high, according to a combined analysis of a French multicenter cohort study and a literature review. Apart from already reported prognostic factors, the researchers also found new potential predictors of SSc…

Certain cytokines of the IL-1 family may play important and distinct roles in the development of systemic scleroderma (SSc), in particular IL‐1β, which may contribute to worse tissue scarring, a study suggests. The findings appeared in the report, “Analysis of serum interleukin(IL)‐1α, IL‐1β and IL‐18 in patients…

Continuing its longstanding support for patients while raising awareness and research funds, the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation is presenting its 15th annual Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma fundraiser June 15 in Centennial, Colorado. Hosted throughout the year by chapters nationwide, Stepping Out is the…

RaDaR, the catchy new name for the U.S. government-run Rare Diseases Registry Program, aims to help patient advocacy groups with limited resources build their own disease registries. The site was developed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a division of the National Institutes of…

The Phase 3 SENSCIS trial reached its primary endpoint by showing that Ofev (nintedanib) slows the decay in forced vital capacity (FVC) — a measure of lung function — in people with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). The results of the trial were published in the article…

With 250 rare diseases newly identified every year, scientists can barely keep up — even as the healthcare system fails millions of Americans whose rare diseases have already been diagnosed. That’s the warning from Christopher P. Austin, MD, director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Studies(NCATS) at the…

Enrollment has been completed in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial assessing the safety and efficacy of experimental therapy lenabasum in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Corbus Pharmaceuticals, lenabasum’s developer, expects to announce top-line results from the study during the summer of 2020, and hopes they will…