New therapy eases lupus side effects

Doctors are reporting the first advance in three decades in treating kidney complications from lupus, a life-threatening disease that primarily affects young women.

A small study showed that an immune-suppression drug worked better than the standard chemotherapy medication, which can cause infertility and other problems.

Nearly a quarter of patients who took the newer drug, CellCept, saw their kidney problems go into complete remission after six months, compared with just 6% of those who received the older treatment, cyclophosphamide. The CellCept patients also had fewer side effects.

The study was published in the Nov. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Partial results were presented in 2003 at a scientific conference in Orlando, Fla.