Pemphigus, an autoimmune disease mediated by B cells and which causes painful blisters and sores on the skin and mucous membranes, is a rare chronic autoimmune condition that can be fatal if not treated. Treatment for pemphigus, most commonly through an oral medication, was often slow and would not result in complete remission. Now, new research from a team in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that a lymphoma-dose regimen of rituximab, a medication regularly used to treat lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, is more likely to put patients with pemphigus into complete remission as compared to a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) regimen of the same medication. The findings--which were published online on October 23, 2019 in JAMA Dermatology -- have direct implications for patient care. The article is titled " Factors Associated with Complete Remission After Rituximab Therapy for Pemphigus.” When rituximab, an antibody which was first used to treat B cell lymphoma, became a treatment for pemphigus vulgaris, clinicians could choose to prescribe either a "lymphoma dose" or an "RA dose." A lymphoma-dose regimen of rituximab is a more aggressive approach to treatment compared to the dosing method for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. What's more, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now has an approved dosing regimen for pemphigus vulgaris, but it closely resembles the often less-effective RA dose. While both lymphoma and RA dosing approaches deplete B cells that cause disease, the lymphoma regimen takes into account a person's height and weight to determine a dose and is given weekly for four weeks. A rheumatoid arthritis dose is a fixed dose of two 1000 mg infusions given two weeks apart.Login Or Register To Read Full Story