Healio Rheumatology reports on checkpoint inhibitors, a 'game changer' for cancer therapy that has also introduced new complications for patients that may be rheumatic in origin. While infrequent, these events are difficult to spot especially by oncologists who are not trained in rheumatology.

Anne R. Bass, MD, rheumatologist at HSS, explains that it is of clinical importance to identify and diagnose those patients with arthritis. "We are just beginning to define these arthritides, because they are so heterogeneous. If you see five different patients, you might see five different phenotypes."

According to Dr. Bass, this patient population will change the field of rheumatology - we just don't know how much.

"We have to take every opportunity to learn, because we are going to see more and more of these patients," she says. "It is critical that we have people who understand and can manage these patients and the problems they confront."

Dr. Bass notes that learning how to predict which patients, who are receiving checkpoint inhibitors, are prone to rheumatic complications will help researchers study this prospectively. "This may be a first step toward learning how to prevent arthritis, and could also be applied to the preclinical phases of RA."

Read the full article at Healio.com. This is also the cover story of the December 2018 print issue.