Another clinical science session scheduled for Thursday afternoon will delve into structural damage progression in patients with axial spondyloarthritis, Dr. Landewé said. “Can we inhibit this structural progression? Can we show it? Does it make sense? And which drug company will win the battle to have the precedent?”
He hopes that Dr. Désirée van der Heijde of the Netherlands and Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos of Germany will help answer these questions when they discuss the latest evidence on identifying and treating clinically relevant structural progression. Also in this session, researchers will describe the combined effects of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and NSAIDs on radiographic progression in ankylosing spondylitis, and MRI evidence supporting treating early axial spondyloarthritis to target with the goal of achieving sustained remission of inflammation.
Also on Thursday afternoon, a case-based session will take a deep dive into giant cell arteritis (GCA), Dr. Landewé noted. Attendees will learn about diagnosing and managing vision loss and stroke and the latest on corticosteroid therapy in GCA. The session also will cover biologics. “Giant cell arteritis has entered the field of biologicals!” said Dr. Landewé. “This has major implications for this disease and the clinical choices to be made.”
The past 5 decades have seen marked progress in the diagnosis and treatment of SLE, with corresponding improvements in survival and quality of life. “Still, lupus is awfully difficult,” Dr. Landewé said. “Therefore, we have planned a classical bench-to-bedside symposium to provide an all-inclusive look at current thinking and future developments.”