ACR Convergence 2022 promises to be another exciting year for research in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with multiple plenary sessions devoted to therapeutic advancements. Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect!

The management of RA patients with a history of cancer continues to be an area of concern. General recommendations are to treat patients with a history of solid organ cancer as no different to any other RA patient. Recently, the ORAL-Surveillance study demonstrated evidence of a greater risk of cancer with tofacitinib than with TNF inhibitors. In this setting, two posters both reassure and raise a new cause for concern.

A new treatment for AxSpA that has come on the scene are JAK inhibitors. In clinic, considerations for JAKi use are body mass index, smoking status, prior use of biologics and patients with high inflammatory states such as high CRP and inflammatory change on MRI scan of the spine and sacroiliac joints. There are further studies at #ACR22 which help answer these questions.

After decades of having little else proven apart from glucocorticosteroids with which to treat polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), evidence for steroid-sparing options has grown in recent years, and this crescendo is set to continue at ACR Convergence 2022 in Philadelphia, PA.

The pharmaceutical companies have will showcase their featured clinical trials and abstracts at ACR 2022.  These are their best studies for you to review and evaluate as part of your to-do list. In the least, you should be familiar with the names and objectives of some of these studies as they will be discussed and mentioned throughout the meeting. Abbvie