Rituxan can cut kidney inflammation in lupus

The blockbuster cancer drug Rituxan, or MabThera, can significantly reduce kidney inflammation in some people with lupus who do not respond to conventional therapy, researchers said on Wednesday.

Genentech and Biogen Idec’s Rituxan, known technically as rituximab, is sold by Roche as MabThera. It’s designed to deplete immune system B cells.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the joints, skin, major organs and central nervous system as the immune system attacks healthy tissues and cells. The disease tends to flare up and wane, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of any treatment.

After nearly two years, rituximab helped 12 of 20 lupus patients involved in the study at serious risk of developing kidney failure, Fadi Fakhouri of Imperial College London and colleagues said.

“Prospective studies assessing the efficiency of rituximab… in severe lupus nephritis is warranted,” they wrote in the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

Existing therapy, involving a variety of immunosuppressive and chemotherapy drugs, is generally considered inadequate.

Fakhouri and colleagues studied 20 volunteers with a severe kidney disorder sparked by lupus at risk of developing kidney failure. Such people are often given chemotherapy drugs or corticosteroids to reduce kidney inflammation.

But because many do not respond to the drugs or experience toxic effects when taking them, the researchers tested rituximab to see if it would help.

They used the drug to target hyperactive B cells, which seem to help cause kidney inflammation in people with lupus, the researchers said.

After 22 months, the researchers saw kidney improvements in 60 percent of the patients and found a strong association between depletion of B cells after one month and treatment success.

Not all people seem to respond, however. People with very low levels of albumin protein in the blood and volunteers of African ancestry did not experience beneficial B cell depletion, the researchers said.

LONDON (Reuters)