News

Cash-strapped governments across the 28-member European Union are struggling to control runaway healthcare expenditures — at exactly the same time as the promise of new but expensive therapies to treat rare diseases has never been greater. That’s the paradox faced by pharmaceutical companies as well as patient advocacy groups in…

After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted aTyr Pharma‘s investigational new drug application for ATYR1923, the company announced it will initiate a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. The company will collaborate with the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) for the…

Low levels of white blood cells in the blood — a condition known as lymphopaenia — could be a useful, noninvasive biomarker for the diagnosis of ocular sarcoidosis, a study reports. The study, “Lymphopaenia as a predictor of sarcoidosis in patients with a first episode of uveitis,”…

More studies describing symptoms and disease severity in people with sarcoidosis and psoriasis are urgently needed to understand how the diseases may increase the risk of other medical conditions, a cross-sectional study says. “Examining the epidemiology of coincident psoriasis and sarcoidosis: An observational cross-sectional study,” was published in the…

Researchers have reported a new case of cutaneous sarcoidosis in a Finnish woman previously treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a type of blood cancer — noting that sarcoidosis development after lymphoma may be underreported. These insights were highlighted in a correspondence titled “Cutaneous sarcoidosis after Hodgkin…

Treatment with Rituxan (rituximab) provided marked disease remission and was well-tolerated by three patients with refractory neurosarcoidosis, according to a new case report. The study, “Successful therapy with rituximab in three patients with probable neurosarcoidosis,” was published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Neurological…

Adalimumab — marketed by (Abbvie) as Humira  — can help treat patients with verrucous sarcoidosis — a rare type of cutaneous (skin) sarcoidosis — associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, according to a new case report. The study, “Chronic verrucous sarcoidosis associated with human papillomavirus infection:…

With the U.S. midterm elections now less than two weeks away, patient advocacy groups are solidly focused on a range of hot-button issues, from the Orphan Drug Tax Creditand affordable health insurance to future funding for rare disease research. Yet “whether Democrats take over the House or Senate, or…

Cardiac arrhythmias are increasing among sarcoidosis patients, and they are linked with higher hospital admission and mortality rates, a U.S. patient population study finds. These results, published in the study, “The burden of cardiac arrhythmias in sarcoidosis: a population-based inpatient analysis,” highlight the need for timely diagnosis…

Highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spinal cord shows that spine involvement is prevalent in sarcoidosis patients, mostly affecting the cervical region, a detailed re-analysis of imaging data reports. The study, “Imaging findings in spinal sarcoidosis: a report of 18 cases and review…