Treating patients with lupus with B-cell depletion.

A new era in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus has dawned with the increasing introduction of monoclonal antibodies and other approaches, that target the key molecules involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. At present the ability to block the CD20 molecule on those B cells that carry this marker has proved the most effective way to treat patients resistant to conventional immunosuppressive drugs. However, these studies have all been open label and the results of double blind controlled studies are eagerly awaited.