Reports from the 2015 American College of Rheumatology Congress

Abstract

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) was one of the major topics covered during the 2015 American College of Rheumatology meeting.

Selected abstracts related to basic research reported the identification of new relevant targets including interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), long coding RNAs, C-terminal domain of endostatin, M2 macrophages and keratinocytes. Several new compounds, including abatacept, nintedanib and soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators, displayed potent antifibrotic effects in complementary animal models of experimental dermal fibrosis.

Clinical aspects of the disease were also largely covered, with a specific focus on cardiac biomarkers and the relationship between cancer and SSc. The results of several clinical trials were also presented, including the comparison between cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil in the scleroderma lung study-2 and the effects of riociguat in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with connective tissue diseases.

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