Excerpt
To the Editor:
We describe a 48-year-old woman with polymyositis refractory to conventional therapy who responded to alemtuzumab (Campath-1H). This humanized lymphocytotoxic monoclonal antibody recognizes the cell-surface glycoprotein CD52, abundantly expressed by B and T lymphocytes, monocytes, and natural killer cells.
Our patient presented in 1996 with seropositive, antinuclear antibody-negative, nonerosive rheumatoid arthritis, which was treated with sulfasalazine 2 g daily. In 1998 she developed generalized muscle pains; investigations showed creatine kinase (CK) was > 5000 U/l, anti-Jo-1 antibody was positive; muscle biopsy and electromyography confirmed an inflammatory myopathy. There was no evidence from this or subsequent biopsies to suggest…
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