Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we are covering eight notable papers spanning advances in spondyloarthritis diagnosis and tracking, the genetic and therapeutic landscapes of giant cell arteritis, and emerging tools to predict complications in systemic lupus erythematosus, autoinflammatory diseases, and pregnancy. Let us dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Instrument selection for the assessment of peripheral arthritis in axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis: an ASAS project — Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2026
2. A data-driven, weighted flare score that accurately predicts organ damage in systemic lupus erythematosus — Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2026
3. Enhancing diagnostic accuracy in axial spondyloarthritis through centralised clinical and imaging evaluation: results from a prospective multicentre project — Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2026
4. Glucocorticoid in giant cell arteritis: real-world treatment patterns over time and associated burden in a nationwide hospital-based study within the French health insurance database — RMD Open 2026
5. Evaluation of pregnancy outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared with the general population: results from a French national prospective and matched study — RMD Open 2026
6. Pediatric macrophage activation syndrome: clinical features and outcomes across diverse etiologies — Rheumatology (Oxford) 2026
7. Development and assessment of an assisted diagnosis model using machine learning for identifying adult-onset Still's disease in fever of unknown origin: a retrospective study in China — RMD Open 2026
8. Genetic biomarkers of clinical manifestations in giant cell arteritis define distinct patient subgroups — Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 10 notable papers spanning predicting and preventing disease progression in psoriatic arthritis, cardiorenal management in systemic autoimmune diseases, and novel clinical tools for patient phenotyping and care delivery. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Progression from oligoarticular to polyarticular psoriatic arthritis and apremilast as a disease modifier: novel insights from FOREMOST. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
2. Are RAS inhibitors necessary during intensive immunosuppression for lupus nephritis? Real-world evidence from the STAR cohort. — Lupus science & medicine 2026
3. Radiographic Sacroiliitis Progression in Psoriatic Arthritis. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
4. Use of advanced cardiovascular imaging in rheumatic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
5. Stability and prognostic value of B-cell markers in primary Sjögren's syndrome: results from the French ASSESS cohort. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
6. Clustering-based stratification of fibromyalgia subtypes: A comparative analysis of medicated and non-medicated cohorts from two academic centers. — Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism 2026
7. Personalized, physiotherapist-guided exercise programs in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: home-based vs. immersive virtual reality (JiaFitXR). — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
8. Development and validation of a Relapsing Polychondritis disease-specific Quality of Life instrument (ERN ReCONNET RP-QoL). — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
9. Imaging techniques for assessing the hand in systemic sclerosis: a systematic review. — Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism 2026
10. Mapping inequalities in rheumatology care in Europe: the first edition of the EULAR RheumaFacts project. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 10 notable papers spanning emerging cellular and molecular targets in systemic autoimmune diseases, real-world evidence and imaging in inflammatory arthritis, and system-level insights into care pathways and drug regulation. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Predictors of rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease in anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis: a meta-analysis — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
2. Persistence and Effectiveness of upadacitinib and TNFi for rheumatoid arthritis using pooled data from Canadian and Swiss registries — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
3. Fibroblast Mitochondrial Ca2+ Overload Drives Skin Fibrosis via mtDNA Leakage and cGAS-STING Activation in Systemic Sclerosis — Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2026
4. Diagnostic Value and Treatment Responsiveness of Ultrasound Features in correlation with clinical findings in Early Peripheral Spondyloarthritis — Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2026
5. Referral pathways and duration of care for musculoskeletal complaints across Europe: an analysis of primary and secondary care — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
6. Aligning approaches to rheumatoid arthritis drug development: a comparison of FDA and EMA guidance — The Lancet. Rheumatology 2026
7. TLR7 in systemic lupus erythematosus: genetics and emerging therapies — Nature reviews. Rheumatology 2026
8. Predictors of unacceptable pain and the impact of sociodemographic factors and comorbidities-results from a large, nationwide cohort of early rheumatoid arthritis — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
9. Teclistamab for treatment-refractory autoimmune diseases: a multicentre case series — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
10. The association between ethnicity, socioeconomic position and outcomes following initiation of TNF inhibitors in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Results from the UK JIA Biologics Register — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 8 notable papers spanning advances in precision monitoring and biomarkers, new insights into long-term risk and disease pathogenesis, and a look at novel therapeutics in related fields. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Talquetamab-Daratumumab in Relapsed or Refractory Myeloma. — The New England journal of medicine 2026
2. Interleukin-10 Autoantibodies and HLA-DRB1*01:03 in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. — The New England journal of medicine 2026
3. Longitudinal profiling reveals immune dynamics and distinct plasma cell signatures during B-cell depletion in IgG4-related disease. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
4. Time-resolved immune dynamics in rheumatoid arthritis under methotrexate therapy. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
5. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity improves cardiovascular risk prediction beyond SCORE2 in autoimmune rheumatic diseases: a 7-year follow-up study. — RMD open 2026
6. Risk of chronic kidney disease in newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus with preserved renal function: a national study. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
7. [Ga]Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 PET/CT in newly diagnosed giant cell arteritis: an inflammation-specific, treatment-responsive molecular imaging biomarker. — RMD open 2026
8. Monogenic autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders in adulthood: recent discoveries and implications for rheumatology practice. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 6 notable papers spanning risk stratification in systemic autoimmune diseases and new insights into disease pathophysiology. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Pulmonary arterial hypertension susceptibility and mortality among patients with systemic sclerosis with the DNASE1L3 rs35677470 (Arg206Cys) variant — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
2. Prospective evaluation of recombinant Herpes zoster vaccine in systemic sclerosis: immunogenicity, safety, and disease outcomes — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
3. Development and Validation of the ALARN Model: A Predictive Mortality Score for Antisynthetase Syndrome — Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2026
4. Malignancy Rates in children, young people, and adults with Juvenile Inflammatory Arthritis (JIA): an observational study using CPRD Aurum — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
5. GPR15-guided CD8T regulatory cells control intestinal inflammation — Nature 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 10 notable papers spanning new therapeutic breakthroughs in systemic diseases like lupus and polymyalgia rheumatica, a refinement of our approach to common conditions like osteoarthritis, and a look at the future of rheumatology through the lenses of precision medicine and health equity. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Finerenone in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Due to Glomerular Diseases: A Randomized Clinical Trial. — JAMA 2026
2. Phase 3 Trial of Secukinumab in Polymyalgia Rheumatica. — The New England journal of medicine 2026
3. Obexelimab for the Treatment of IgG4-Related Disease. — The New England journal of medicine 2026
4. Invisible pain, visible impact: the urgent need to prioritise women's health in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
5. Evaluating machine learning tools to assist title and abstract screening in systematic literature reviews: a report based on the EULAR RA Management Recommendations Task Force. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
6. OA Fundamentals Series: DIAGNOSIS AND CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS. — Osteoarthritis and cartilage 2026
7. Integrated Clinical and Proteomic Profiling of CD19 CAR-T Cell Therapy in Progressive Systemic Sclerosis. — Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2026
8. Integrated transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling reveals conserved molecular subtypes across systemic autoimmune diseases. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
9. Efficacy and safety of the CD40 ligand inhibitor dapirolizumab pegol in systemic lupus erythematosus (PHOENYCS GO): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. — Lancet (London, England) 2026
10. Towards global clinical practice guidelines for the management of non-specific low back pain in primary care: a review of current guideline recommendations and how they have changed over the last 30 years. — The Lancet. Rheumatology 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 9 notable papers spanning new therapeutic paradigms like CAR-T cell therapy [7], optimizing treatment in challenging populations like lupus nephritis [3] and elderly vasculitis [4], and innovations in diagnostics for conditions from myositis-ILD [8] to hand osteoarthritis [5]. We'll also touch on the growing global burden of mental hea…

This week's papers:

1. Genomic instability drives POSTNmyofibroblasts via STING-WNT axis to promote immunosuppression and PARPi resistance in ovarian cancer. — Science translational medicine 2026
2. Decoding variants of uncertain significance in systemic autoinflammatory diseases. — Nature reviews. Rheumatology 2026
3. Early belimumab accelerates renal response and reduces glucocorticoid exposure in lupus nephritis: a multicenter propensity-matched study. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
4. Incorporating frailty and disease severity into treatment decisions for older patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
5. Radiomics Grading of Hand Osteoarthritis Severity Using Standard Radiographs: Results from the DIGICOD Cohort. — Osteoarthritis and cartilage 2026
6. Resetting autoimmune disease with CAR cell therapies. — Nature medicine 2026
7. Serum KL-6 and lung ultrasound B-lines: a combined non-invasive model for screening and predicting interstitial lung disease in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy. — RMD open 2026
8. Updated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. — Lancet (London, England) 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 8 notable papers spanning several key areas, including new therapeutic strategies for diseases like Sjögren's and GCA, ways to optimize outcomes in psoriatic arthritis and RA-associated lung disease, and practical guidance on vaccination and clinical trial methodology. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Resetting autoimmune disease with CAR cell therapies — Nature medicine 2026
2. Treatment strategies in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica: beyond glucocorticoids — Nature reviews. Rheumatology 2026
3. Repurposing leflunomide and hydroxychloroquine to treat Sjögren's disease (RepurpSS-II): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial — The Lancet. Rheumatology 2026
4. Repair of radiographic joint damage in psoriatic arthritis: a cohort study — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
5. Recombinant zoster vaccine in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases: efficacy, long-term protection and safety under immunosuppression — RMD open 2026
6. Validation of screening criteria for interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis in routine clinical practice: the VAR-EPIDSER study — RMD open 2026
7. The American College of Rheumatology Updated Recommended Methods for Development of Disease Classification and Response Criteria — Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2026

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Welcome to This Week in Rheumatology. This week we're covering 8 notable papers spanning early intervention strategies, the fundamental mechanisms of autoimmunity and fibrosis, and new data on lupus therapies. Let's dive in.

This week's papers:

1. Abatacept versus hydroxychloroquine for prevention of rheumatoid arthritis in individuals with palindromic rheumatism: a randomized open-label trial. — Nature medicine 2026
2. International expert consensus recommendations on standardised nomenclature of SSA/Ro (TROVE2/Ro60 and TRIM21/Ro52) autoantibodies in autoimmune diseases. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
3. Teriparatide Plus Zoledronic Acid for Osteogenesis Imperfecta: A Randomized Clinical Trial. — JAMA 2026
4. Natural killer cell immunotherapy reverses lung fibrosis by eliminating senescent fibroblasts. — Science translational medicine 2026
5. Anti-PAD4 antibodies link autoimmunity to PAD4 with CTL-associated rheumatoid arthritis. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026
6. Targeting fibroblasts in immune mediated inflammatory diseases: a cellular basis for cure? — Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 2026
7. Innate lymphoid cells in rheumatoid arthritis as mediators of pathology and resolution. — Nature reviews. Rheumatology 2026
8. Whole blood transcriptome profiling in patients treated with deucravacitinib and novel mechanistic insights into TYK2 inhibition in lupus: results from a post hoc analysis of the PAISLEY SLE phase 2 trial. — Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2026

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