The disease best known to seriéfilos - from the hand of the infallible Dr. House - does not yet have curative treatment, but it is closer to having a new drug that helps keep symptoms under control. This is supported by a clinical trial that has just been published in the world reference medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
As in many autoimmune diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus is caused by a revolt of defenses that turn the entire organism upside down. The majority of patients who suffer from it are young women.
A characteristic symptom of this disease is the lesion on the skin, in the area of the cheeks ( erythema in butterfly wings : hence, erythematosus), but in reality it affects many organs and systems (systemic) which results in signs as diverse as canker sores, arthritis, tiredness or fever. Alterations in the kidney, stomach and central nervous system may also occur. The term lupus, wolf in Latin, is the name that doctors had given to this type of tissue-eating skin lesions for centuries.
The treatment that has just been tested achieves a global improvement in disease-related symptoms in different organs, in addition to reducing skin disease and the number of outbreaks per year . According to the main investigator of the work, Professor of Rheumatology Eric Morand, with this drug, the need to take corticosteroids could also be reduced, which together with other immune system modulating drugs are the current basis for the treatment of lupus.
Today there is no cure for lupus, but we are in a good time.
The trial, in phase III, is led by the Australian University of Monash, in Melburne, and has been attended by medical centers around the world. In total, they included 362 patients with moderate to severe disease, who received the drug or a harmless substance (placebo) every four weeks for 48, intravenously.
It has not been easy to get this far in this disease . José Mª Pego Reigosa, from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, and one of the doctors in the trial, recalls that in recent years, several drugs have stayed in the way of clinical research. Therefore, he considers that "studies such as this one send a message of optimism about lupus research. In fact, there are now several trials with different treatments that have successfully passed phase II," where new drugs may come in the coming years: "Today there is no cure for lupus, but we are in a good time."
The specialist of the University Complex of Vigo, stresses that "with the new treatments we seek to improve the clinical manifestations of the disease and the quality of life of patients. In addition, we are seeing with the previous treatment approved 10 years ago (belimumab) that helps to avoid damage, the sequelae that patients accumulate after years of illness, and that may appear in the form of strokes, heart attacks, diabetes
bone abnormalities This is also an important therapeutic goal. "
Benjamín Fernández, head of the Rheumatology Service of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, explains that the drug (anifrolumab) is "a monoclonal antibody that acts on the type I interferon receptor." This protein is related to the disease, and "in fact, its levels appear high in patients' blood." He believes that the new treatment could be useful in the combined therapy of lupus.
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