What's in Store for Rheumatology in 2018?

Due to the fact that clinical trials do not take into consideration patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, several questions remain for this group of patients, who may also be possible candidates for treatment with checkpoint inhibitors. For instance, it remains unclear as to whether they may be at an increased risk of experiencing a flare-up from an autoimmune disease, as well as how this flare-up should be managed if it occurs. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether an autoimmune disease that is treated with immunosuppressants actually affects the response of the tumor. “Given these unanswered questions and the complexity of the problems, perhaps our best strategy for now is to expect that the surprises of immune-related adverse events from current checkpoint inhibitors will merely prepare us for future surprises,” concluded Calabrese.