About 1.5 million Americans are living with lupus, with 16,000 new cases each year. This autoimmune condition can cause inflammation that damages skin, joints, muscles, and even major organs over time. As a result, living with lupus can be challenging! Fortunately, advancements in medical research are offering new hope for better care. What is the current state of lupus treatment? What are some promising new medications and emerging therapies that may soon change the lives of patients? Here is an overview from PatientsLikeMe.
The Current Landscape of Treatment
The treatment you take depends on the symptoms you experience and how severe they are. Doctors have a few options when it comes to prescribing medications.
- Anti-inflammatories: Because lupus causes inflammation, one of the most common drug treatments is with anti-inflammatories. These medicines help reduce joint pain and swelling. Some over-the-counter options include:
- Acetaminophen
- Aspirin
- Ibuprofen
- Naproxen
- Antimarials: Another common medication for treating lupus is an antimalarial. These help to calm an overactive immune system, which reduces inflammation and helps treat symptoms. They may also help prevent blood clots and organ damage.
- Corticosteroids: Corticosteroids help to weaken the immune response, which stops it from attacking healthy tissue. These medicines help reduce swelling and soreness caused by inflammation. They can also prevent long-term organ damage.
- Immunosuppressants: Similar to corticosteroids, immunosuppressants (as their name suggests) help reduce the immune response. This can bring certain symptoms of lupus under control and prevent long-term organ damage.
The goals of any lupus treatment is to quickly control the disease, prevent flares, and limit organ damage. Doctors will try to address symptoms that bother patients most, such as pain and fatigue.
Emerging Treatments
CAR-T Cell Therapy
CAR-T cell therapy is emerging as a potential game-changer for treating severe lupus. Originally developed to treat certain cancers, CAR-T cell therapy is now being explored for autoimmune diseases like lupus. This innovative approach involves modifying a patient’s own T cells to target and eliminate disease-causing cells. A T cell is a type of white blood cell. They are a part of the immune system and help protect the body from infection.
Recent studies have shown promising results. In a small study involving 15 patients with severe lupus, systemic sclerosis, and idiopathic inflammatory myositis, participants received a single infusion of CD19 CAR-T cells. After two years, the patients with lupus saw a complete resolution of symptoms, while those with systemic sclerosis saw significant improvement. Researchers are now working to apply this therapy further. By engineering T cells that target and destroy the B cells that produce autoantibodies causing inflammation in lupus, the disease can be put into remission.
CAR-T cell therapy has already been FDA-approved for some forms of leukemia. These early results suggest it may also be viable for lupus patients. As research continues, there is hope that this therapy will become a widely available and effective treatment option for severe lupus and possibly other autoimmune conditions.
PatientsLikeMe is actively recruiting for a Lupus clinical trial. See if you qualify and express your interest!
TYK2 Inhibitors
TYK2 inhibitors are another promising frontier in lupus treatment. Deucravacitinib, an oral selective TYK2 inhibitor, has shown encouraging results in phase 2 clinical trials. TYK2 regulates the signaling of type I interferons, which are involved in the inflammatory processes of lupus.
In a trial involving 363 lupus patients, deucravacitinib led to significant improvements in lupus activity. Patients treated with deucravacitinib showed higher response rates compared to those receiving a placebo. Many saw a low disease activity state and a reduction in joint and skin symptoms. These promising results suggest that deucravacitinib could become a novel therapy for lupus, pending further investigation in phase 3 trials. This could provide another valuable treatment option for patients struggling with the disease.
The landscape of lupus treatment is constantly evolving. New therapies offer hope for better management and long-term outcomes. Innovative approaches such as CAR-T cell therapy and TYK2 inhibitors hold promise for the future. As research progresses, these advancements may lead to more effective, targeted treatments for lupus, improving the quality of life for those living with this challenging condition.