Solid malignancies among etanercept-treated patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's): long-term followup of a multicenter longitudinal cohort.

Objective: An association between therapeutic inhibition of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and solid malignancies was observed during the Wegener's Granulomatosis Etanercept Trial (WGET), which included 180 patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA). The present study was conducted to determine the malignancy risk beyond the time of exposure to study therapy.

Methods: The occurrence and type of solid malignancies were ascertained using a standardized data form.

The frequency of anticardiolipin antibodies and genetic mutations associated with hypercoagulability among patients with Wegener's granulomatosis with and without history of a thrombotic event.

Objective: Venous thrombotic events (VTE), including both deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary emboli, are now recognized as an important complication of Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), but the mechanism(s) of this occurrence is unclear. The frequency of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), anti-beta2-glycoprotein antibodies (anti-beta2-GP), and several genetic hypercoagulable factors were examined in a large cohort of patients with WG.

Methods: One hundred eighty patients with active WG had serum and DNA samples collected upon entry into a clinical trial.

Antiendothelial cell antibodies in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis: prevalence and correlation with disease activity and manifestations.

Objective: Previous studies in small cohorts of patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) or antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis have yielded conflicting data regarding the prevalence of antiendothelial cell antibodies (AECA), ranging from 8% to 100%, and the use of AECA as a measure of disease activity. We examined a large, well-characterized cohort of patients with WG and active disease for the presence of AECA.

Methods: Serum from subjects with WG who participated in a clinical therapeutic trial was collected at baseline, when all subjects had active disease.

Analysis of a cluster of cases of Wegener granulomatosis.

Background: Wegener granulomatosis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of unknown etiology. The sporadic occurrence, lack of familial or genetic associations, and rising incidence suggest possible exposure to environmental agents as causative for this disease.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine possible environmental triggers of Wegener granulomatosis.