Our discoveries
The BILAG BR study is providing an important source of data for research into lupus treatments.
What we’ve been looking at
Already, researchers have used data from the study to look at the following topics.
Rituximab in the short term
This analysis looked at the short term effectiveness and safety of rituximab for patients whose lupus doesn’t respond well to other treatments. It was found that rituximab is safe and is associated with improvement in disease activity in these patients. Patients treated with rituximab were also more likely to reduce their steroid use. Another finding was that it is important to watch for infections after rituximab infusions to further improve treatment risks and benefits.
Predicting who responds well to rituximab
Researchers asked whether it is possible to predict which patients will respond well to treatment with rituximab, and which factors might contribute towards a patient responding well.
This project has now finished and the researchers have produced formulae (algorithms) that aim to predict response better than in current standard of care. Following future research to validate the results, the ultimate goal is that care for SLE patients can be improved by putting them on the right drug, sooner.
Read more on the MASTERPLANS website.
Eligibility for belimumab
BILAG BR data was used to investigate the percentage of lupus patients who could potentially be eligible for treatment with the licenced biologic drug belimumab. Researchers found that 13% of UK SLE patients needing biologic therapy for their lupus would be eligible for belimumab.
Eligibility for clinical drug trials
This analysis looked at how patients with lupus starting a new treatment compare to those with lupus who enter clinical drug trials. These trials determine the effectiveness and safety of new medications using tightly controlled conditions.
The researchers found that only 37% of patients entering the BILAG BR would be eligible for recruitment to clinical drug trials based on criteria set out by drug companies for recruitment to these trials. Reasons for ineligibility include severe kidney involvement, use of restricted medications (such as high doses of steroid) or other co-existing illnesses such as previous cancer or chronic kidney disease.
Lupus patients with higher number of co-existing illnesses such as heart and kidney disease were less likely to be eligible to participate. This highlights the importance of collecting data from the BILAG BR to show the effectiveness and safety of biologic therapies in a real world setting, particularly for patients with other health conditions.
Potential infection risk
Researchers have looked at whether biological treatments for lupus increase the risk of serious infections. Reassuringly, these treatments were not found to increase infection risks when compared to more traditional immunosuppressants (azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil).
You can read a plain English summary of this research on the National Institute for Health and Care Research website.
BILAG BR data at EULAR Congress 2024 and 2025 (the annual conference of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology).
In the last two editions of this conference, researchers have presented study data on the effectiveness of rituximab, firstly for lupus nephritis (a kidney condition caused by lupus) and secondly, for moderate to severe neuropsychiatric lupus.
Researchers have also looked into whether lupus patients who have had a clinical response to their medical therapy also report an improvement in their psychological wellbeing. It was found that almost half of patients who had a clinical response didn’t see a corresponding improvement in their wellbeing. The researchers discussed factors that might help to identify these patients and that could be targeted to support holistic care for patients with lupus.
Next steps
As the study continues, more data will become available for analysis, making the BILAG BR register even more useful for lupus researchers.
Our team of researchers are busy looking at all the information that has been collected in the study to see what they can find out about the safety of biologic therapies, and also about how well they work for people with SLE.
Have your say
If you have any ideas about what you would like our researchers to look at please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Study updates will be provided in our participant newsletters. Read previous newsletters below:
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