Drug combination therapy of systemic lupus erythematosus
This long-term study on 73 patients with severe SLE has shown that drug combination therapy with steroids, CsA, MTX and Cy permits a control of disease activity and maintenance of kidney function with very few side effects and, to a large extent, allows patients a good quality of life in both professional and personal terms. In particular, it has been possible to drastically reduce steroid medication (Table 5). The mortality rate is now well under 1% per year, but is still three to four times higher than in an ageand sex-matched control population. Further efforts are necessary to improve the management of SLE. The investigation of the cytokine network might lead to the introduction of new agents [6]. There is also hope that CsA analogues, devoid of or with less toxicity, will be developed.