News

Genentech has completed patient enrollment in a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Actemra (tocilizumab) as a treatment for scleroderma patients. It has now enrolled 211 patients worldwide for a trial that will be conducted at 106 sites. The focuSSced study (NCT02453256) will be assessing the effectiveness and…

Researchers found that scleroderma renal crisis (SRC), a severe complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc), is associated with high mortality in Thai patients. The study also shows that the major risk factors for SRC include heart involvement, ongoing treatment with high dosages of the steroid medication prednisolone, low blood albumin levels, and digital gangrene. The…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Imbruvica (ibrutinib) to treat adult patients with chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD) who failed prior therapy, such as corticosteroids. Stem cell transplants have been a standard of care for patients with blood disorders like leukemia and myeloma. Pre-clinical and early clinical studies suggest…

Skin levels of aquaporin 3 (AQP3), a protein which promotes skin hydration and wound healing, are reduced in the cells of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), according to a new study. The study, “Downregulation of Aquaporin3 in Systemic Sclerosis Dermal Fibroblasts,” appeared in the…

Systemic sclerosis patients with interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) have a great deal of symptoms and comorbidities (other diseases), with a high impact on their overall biological and physical stability, or frailty. The study, “Severity and features of frailty in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease,” was published in the journal Respiratory…

Inventiva’s lead therapy candidate IVA337 for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) was shown to prevent the progression of lung fibrosis and the remodeling of blood vessels in preclinical animal models of lung fibrosis and systemic sclerosis. These findings will be the…

Patients with scleroderma may develop calcinosis, a condition marked by abnormal deposits of calcium salts in the body’s soft tissues, a new study says. The study, “Are there risk factors for scleroderma-related calcinosis?,” was published in the journal Modern Rheumatology. “Calcinosis is commonly found in pressure areas such…

Cytori Therapeutics’ Habeo Cell Therapy may be effective only in scleroderma patients who have the more severe diffuse version of the disease, a Phase 3 clinical trial indicates. The trial failed to meet its main goal of improving all scleroderma patients’ hand function. Subgroup analyses indicated that those with…

The 19th Annual Scleroderma Foundation National Patient Education Conference is expected to bring together over 600 scleroderma patients, their families, friends, caretakers, and some of the world’s leading healthcare professionals and researchers. As previously announced, the conference will take place this week, July 21–23, in Chandler, Arizona. The venue…

Scleroderma patients without pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) were found to develop a mild but significant decline in the ability to exercise and in pulmonary vascular function during exercise, according to a four-year prospective study published in the European Respiratory Journal. Previous large-scale studies have demonstrated that PAH is a real and severe complication…