Belimumab for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (an auto | Figure 1

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Belimumab for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (an autoimmune disease affecting the whole body)

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What are the benefits and risks of belimumab for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (an autoimmune disease that affects the whole body)?

Why is this question important?

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; or ‘lupus’) is a disease in which the body's immune (defense) system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. It is a long‐term disease (one that lasts longer than six weeks and is usually life‐long). Often, SLE causes pain in joints and muscles, and extreme tiredness. Symptoms can improve temporarily, or worsen suddenly (flares).

There is no cure for SLE. However, treatments can improve symptoms. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect the joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart, and lungs. Most people are treated with glucocorticoids (anti‐inflammation medicines; also called "steroids/prednisone/medrol/solumedrol") at some point in their disease course. These medicines reduce the swelling and pain associated with inflammation, but they can have serious adverse (unwanted) effects, such as kidney damage. This is why it is important to study other treatment options, such as belimumab.

Belimumab is a human protein (antibody) that is given as an injection to decrease inflammation. In people with SLE, belimumab prevents the development and survival of the cells that attack the body’s healthy tissues (B cells). The aim of belimumab is to reduce the number of B cells, so that people’s symptoms improve.

To find out about the benefits and risks of belimumab, we reviewed the evidence from research studies.

What did we find?

We found six studies that involved a total of 2917 people (mostly women) aged between 22 and 80 years. People were followed for a minimum of 84 days and a maximum of 76 weeks. All studies compared belimumab against placebo.

Summary of key findings:

When compared against placebo:

‐ belimumab is more likely to reduce SLE disease activity, and to reduce the amount of glucocorticoids needed;

‐ belimumab probably makes little to no difference to: health‐related quality of life improvement; numbers of serious adverse events; and deaths; and

‐ belimumab may make little to no difference to numbers of serious infections, and numbers of adverse events that cause people to withdraw from studies.

How‐up‐to date is this review?

The evidence in this Cochrane Review is current to September 2019.

Read the full Cochrane Review:

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