Researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, have identified biomarkers that could save patients with severe autoimmune disease from having to take potentially toxic drug treatments for longer than necessary. The biomarkers predict how different patients will react following initial treatment--and thus comes the possibility of "personalized" therapies.

  The researchers found a pattern of gene expression associated with relapses of the autoimmune diseases systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). These offered an indication of how soon and how frequently recurrence of the disease would be for a patient after successful initial treatment. Such information could potentially help avoid relapses by highlighting which patients are at high risk and need more intensive therapy. By reducing the need for medication in those unlikely to relapse, the number of people exposed to drug-related toxicity could be minimized.

  Professor Ken Smith, of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, who led the study, points out that since the biomarkers relate to two different diseases, this might also indicate that they are applicable to other aspects of immunity. He says that this could provide an understanding of how different patients react not only to different autoimmune diseases but to other infections, vaccination, and organ transplants."

--Source: Excerpted from "'Personalising' autoimmune disease treatments," Mun-Keat Looi, Wellcome Trust, August 5, 2010