Lupus & antiphospholipid syndrome
Administration of belimumab prior to standard immunosuppression in patients with early active lupus hinders accrual of new EULAR/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria within the first 12 months of treatment
Authors' conclusion
Early administration of BEL in active SLE significantly delays disease progression and promotes GC withdrawal.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with early active SLE (diagnosed ≤12 months from enrolment, ≤2 clinical EULAR/ACR 2019 criteria, no major organ involvement, active serology)
- Participants
- 69 patients
- Exposure
- Early belimumab vs standard immunosuppression, both on glucocorticoid (GC) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as standard of care (SoC)
- Outcome
- Accrual of new EULAR/ACR criteria (marker of disease progression)
- Follow-up
- 12 months
Methodological detailsKaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank tests, Cox regression
- Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank tests
- Cox regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
New EULAR/ACR criteria accrual, events per 100 patient-years
P = 0.035
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Criteria-free survival, mean time-to-event · 12 months · criteria-free survival longer with BEL
log-rank p=0.04
| Outcome | OR | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Criteria-free survival, mean time-to-event · 12 monthsLag time to criteria accrual | Cox regression, p=0.027 | |
| GC discontinuation · 12 monthsBEL vs HCQ and GC alone · vs patients on HCQ and GC alone | 6.67 | P = 0.0014 |
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Administration of belimumab prior to standard immunosuppression in patients with early active lupus hinders accrual of new EULAR/ACR criteria within the first 12 months of treatment. Lupus Sci Med. Published 22 October 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →