Better Lupus Treatments on the Horizon

He pointed especially to the sequencing of the human genome and the use of genetically altered animal models as innovations that are boosting lupus research.

In one innovation, researchers led by Philip Low, of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., say they've developed what could be a vaccine against lupus. Reporting in the Sept./Oct. issue of Molecular Pharmaceutics, the team said the shot reduced disease, cut down on kidney damage and extended the survival of laboratory mice with the illness.

This and other new research is raising expectations, the researchers said.

"Our goal should be trying to get remission in patients with lupus," UCLA's Dr. Bevra Hahn, chief of rheumatology in the School of Medicine, noted during the teleconference. "Patients all tend to accept what I call 'simmering' disease. There is fatigue, the patient never feels good, but they're not in danger, and we accept that as OK. I think it's time for both people who have the disease and physicians who treat them to do better."

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Everyone agreed that heeding this advice will require an enormous public support --both in terms of continued financial investment and in enrolling patients in clinical trials.

The optimism is there, however.

"I'm a rheumatologist by training, and I've been seeing patients since 1978," Simon said. "And I'm much, much more encouraged than in the past about where we're heading. It's a very exciting time. The confluence of science, technology, and patient advocacy will allow all this to move forward."

More information

For additional information on lupus research, visit the Lupus Research Institute.