ACR 2008 Scientific Meeting Wrap-up

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On October 24th, 2008, over 15,000 doctors, health care professionals, scientists and arthritis allies came together for the American College of Rheumatology's annual scientific conference.

The Rheumatologists and health care professionals descended on the City by the Bay (San Francisco) for the week-long meeting. Doctors from around the world convened for a series of lectures, presentations, networking, and an attempt to peek around the corner to see what's on the horizon for arthritis care.

Seth dropped in on the conference to meet with physicians, to report on their studies and to take the temperature of the scientific meeting. He returned with a series of one-on-one interviews, and a big smile, considering the overwhelmingly positive and optimistic view from doctors at the meeting. While many languages were spoken, the language of arthritis management was ubiquitous.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A LISTING
OF FINDINGS PRESENTED AT THE MEETING

SETH'S LATEST SHOWS

Show 6 - Seth chats with researchers from Baltimore, Toronto and New York

Seth chats with Dr. Clifton Bingham of Johns Hopkins University, Toronto-based Dr. Katell Roué-Le Lay, and Alesia Sadosky, Ph.D. and Kevin Murphy, Ph.D. from Pfizer, Inc.

Findings discussed include:

• poor dental health among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients
• new indicators among RA patients portending cardiovascular health problems
• career and sick-day interruptions for fibromyalgia patients
• healthcare changes for fibromyalgia patients after diagnosis
  
  

MP3 Permalink:  http://www14.creakyjoints.org/creakyjoints/podcasts/clips/cj67_en.mp3

Show 5 - Seth chats with doctors from Canada and Mexico

Seth chats with Dr. Shikha Mittoo and Dr. Carol A. Hitchon of Canada's University of Manitoba, and Dr. Daniel Xibillé Friedmann from Mexico's Hospital General de Cuernavaca.

Findings discussed include:

• prevalence of lupus lung disease and its symptoms
• a cross-analysis of the characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the mestizo population of Mexico, First Nations indigenous peoples from Canada, and Canadians of European descent
  
  

MP3 Permalink:  http://www14.creakyjoints.org/creakyjoints/podcasts/clips/cj66_en.mp3

Show 4 - Seth chats with doctors from Sweden, the UK and California

Seth chats with Dr. Carl Turesson of Sweden's Malmö University Hospital, Dr. Nagui Gendi of the United Kingdom's Basildon Hospital, and Dr. Siba Raychaudhuri from the University of California, Davis.

Findings discussed include:

• Moderate alcohol consumption lowers the risk of acquiring rheumatoid arthritis
• Promising new drugs for osteoarthritis that may return bone density to normal
• Advice for rheumatoid arthritis patients
• Recent treatment advances for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus
  
  

MP3 Permalink:  http://www14.creakyjoints.org/creakyjoints/podcasts/clips/cj64_en.mp3

Show 3 - Seth chats with doctors from North Carolina, Toronto and New York

Seth chats with Dr. Shane Anderson of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, physiotherapist Laura Passalent of the University Health Network's Toronto Western Hospital, and Dr. Theodore Pincus of the New York University Hospital for Joint Disease.

Show 2 - Seth chats with doctors from Puerto Rico, Philadelphia and Jackson, Miss.

Seth chats with Dr. Yesenia Santiago of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, Dr. Vijay Singh of the Hahnemann University Hospital / Drexel University, and Dr. Amrit Singh of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Show 1 - Seth chats with doctors from Norway, Cleveland and Fort Worth

Seth chats with Dr. Roald Omdal from Stavanger, Norway; Dr. Nora Singer from Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio; and Dr. Michele Lawson from Fort Worth, Texas.

DR. STEPHEN PAGET'S PERSPECTIVE 

Rheumatologist and CJ Friend highlighting advancements to be discussed at the 2008 ACR.

Part one:

Part two:

For more information about the ACR, including materials directly resulting from their annual scientific meeting, visit:

http://rheumatology.org/annual/index.asp

And for the record, now you know why you couldn't get in to see your rheumatologist that week.

ACR Meeting: New Survey Demonstrates Misperceptions within RA Community, Long-term, RAPID and Sustained Relief with CIMZIA for RA; Lupus Data

Data presented at the meeting included:

• CIMZIA® (certolizumab pegol), UCB's PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) therapy under investigation for use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• ORAL presentation - Statistics from the DESIGN survey, a large-scale rheumatoid arthritis survey of RA patients and their healthcare providers
• Nurse and Physician Differences in Perception of Patient Knowledge and Approach to Education in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (N. Furfaro)
• Epratuzumab, a fully-humanized anti-CD22 compound under investigation for patients with moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with actively flaring disease

Individual sessions included:

• Poster Session (Hall A) - Monday, October 27: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
  CIMZIA Clinical
• Poster Session: 981 - Combination Therapy with Certolizumab Pegol Plus Methotrexate Maintains Long-Term Efficacy in the Treatment of RA: A 2-Year Analysis (Poster Board: 242) - E. Keystone
  CIMZIA Clinical

• Poster Session: 979 - Patients with RA Achieve a Rapid Response when Treated with Certolizumab Pegol Irrespective of Background Treatment (Poster Board: 240) - R. Fleischmann
  CIMZIA Clinical
• Poster Session: 982 - Inhibition of Progression of Structural Damage by Week 16 with Certolizumab Pegol: Results from the RAPID Trials (Poster Board: 243) - D. van der Heijde
  CIMZIA
  QoL
• Poster Session: 975 - Health Related Quality of Life and Fatigue Benefits in RA Patients were Sustained Over 2 Years of Treatment with Certolizumab Pegol (Poster Board: 236) - V. Strand
  CIMZIA
  QoL

• Poster Session: 980 - Improvements in Physical Function and Pain Relief were Sustained in RA Patients Treated for 2 Years with Certolizumab Pegol (Poster Board: 241) - P. Mease
  CIMZIA
  QoL
• Poster Session: 977 - Combination Therapy With Certolizumab Pegol Plus Methotrexate Improves Household Productivity and Daily Activities in Patients With Active RA (Poster Board: 238) - P. Emery
  CIMZIA
  QoL
• Poster Session: 978 - Certolizumab Pegol With Methotrexate Improves Performance at Work in Patients With Active Rheumatoid Arthritis (Poster Board: 239) - J. Smolen
  DESIGN

• Poster Session: 1039 - High Unmet Need for Arthritis Pain Management Among EU and US Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Despite Effective Therapies (Poster Board: 300) - P. Taylor
  Emab
• Poster Session: 1086 - Meaningful Improvements in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) with Epratuzumab (anti-CD22 mAb Targeting B-cells) in Patients (Pts) with SLE with High Disease Activity: Results from 2 Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) (Poster Board: 347) - V. Strand
  Emab
• Poster Session: 1087 - Clinically Meaningful Improvements with Epratuzumab (Anti-CD22 mAb Targeting B-cells) in Patients (Pts) with Moderate/Severe SLE Flares: Results from 2 Randomized Controlled Trials (Poster Board: 348) - M. Petri
  Emab

• Poster Session: 1088 - Epratuzumab (anti-CD22 mAb Targeting B-cells) Provides Clinically Meaningful Reductions in Corticosteroid (CS) Use with a Favorable Safety Profile in Patients with Moderate/Severe Flaring SLE: Results from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) (Poster Board: 349) - D. Wallace