Hope for patients

Lupus: major advances in therapy

In lupus, the immune system turns against its own body.

(Bild: Zerbor/stock.adobe.com)

The treatment options for lupus erythematosus (SLE), a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, have developed very positively in recent years. A large number of modern drugs offer new hope for patients.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can have different effects. The organs and organ systems most frequently affected include the skin - even the thin layers that cover the internal organs - kidneys, lungs, heart, musculoskeletal structures, the haematopoietic system and the nervous system.

The course of the disease is highly variable, with phases of acute or chronic attacks alternating with relative inactivity. The type, extent and severity of the disease are decisive for both the prognosis and the resulting treatment concept, as Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Clemens Scheinecker, Medical University of Vienna, explains in the specialist magazine "Ärzte Krone".

Drugs influence certain immune cells 
Due to the complexity of lupus, treating those affected can sometimes be a challenge. Various therapeutic approaches can now reduce the symptoms, prevent relapses and influence the progression of the disease. 

"In recent years in particular, significant progress has been made in the development of new therapies that target specific immune cells or individual components in the immunopathogenesis of the disease," says Prof. Scheinecker.

For example, drugs (therapeutic antibodies) are available that inhibit the function of certain proteins produced by the immune system (interferons). These proteins play a key role in viral infections, but are also associated with autoimmunological and inflammatory processes.

There are also new therapies available or being investigated in studies that target so-called B cells, which are thought to play an important role in triggering and maintaining the disease. Car-T cell therapies, as known from cancer treatment, have also been successfully used in SLE patients.