Treatment with rituximab can lead to meaningful improvements for some people with neurosarcoidosis affecting the brain and/or spinal cord — particularly those with hard-to-treat disease and involvement limited to some nerves. That’s according to a retrospective study of 19 people treated across four U.S. centers, which showed that…
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Sarcoidosis is a chronic, multi-organ disease for most patients receiving care in specialty centers, and it has the potential to become more severe with time, according to a large U.S. study. Patients also had high rates of pulmonary fibrosis, or lung scarring, which is associated with worse lung function, and…
EFZO-FIT, a Phase 3 clinical study testing efzofitimod for pulmonary sarcoidosis, failed to meet its main goal of significantly reducing the need for corticosteroids among people with the rare inflammatory disease. However, the first-in-class immunomodulatory therapy did show some clinical benefits, according to its developer Atyr Pharma. Specifically,…
People with sarcoidosis who respond poorly to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) — used to treat the immune system disease when other therapies haven’t worked — frequently develop anti-drug antibodies (ADAs), which are linked to lower blood drug levels and likely affect treatment effectiveness. That’s according to a…
Four blood metabolites, or intermediate or end products of the body’s metabolism, could serve as noninvasive biomarkers to monitor or predict disease outcomes in people with pulmonary sarcoidosis — in which the lungs are primarily affected by this rare inflammatory disease — according to the results of a new study…
Black women with sarcoidosis have a risk of developing kidney stones that’s nearly twice as high as for people without the disease, a U.S. study suggests. The risk increased as the number of co-occurring metabolic conditions grew, including high blood pressure and high levels of fatty molecules in the…
An algorithm that adds newer echocardiography measures and heart damage markers to standard screening criteria for heart involvement with sarcoidosis increased detection rates by 30% over standard criteria, according to a study at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. The new algorithm, dubbed AIIMS…
The treatment of people with ocular sarcoidosis should be tailored based on symptom severity, starting with glucocorticoids. If patients do not respond adequately, immunosuppressants can be added, followed by biologic therapies, if necessary. These are the conclusions of a study in Spain that retrospectively analyzed data from 65…
Higher, daily exposure to microorganisms during childhood is significantly associated with an increased chance of developing sarcoidosis in adulthood, according to a study in Japan. Among the risk factors identified are attending nursing school and using well water. A smoking history during adulthood was also significantly linked to a…
The final participant has completed the last visit as part of EFZO-FIT, a Phase 3 clinical trial testing Atyr Pharma’s experimental treatment efzofitimod, in adults with pulmonary sarcoidosis. Top-line results are expected in the coming months. “Completing this first-ever global Phase 3 and largest interventional study conducted for patients…
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