한국인 루푸스 임상연구의 현재와 미래

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is considered to be the prototype of systemic autoimmune disease because it involves the most immune cells and it can affect all organs of the human body. Despite the advances in understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of SLE, a sobering fact is that only a few drugs have been licensed for its treatment. This may be associated with the difficulties in performing clinical trials due to its diverse clinical manifestations and comorbidities of SLE, as well as difficulties in determining the disease outcome. To determine the natural course and drug response of SLE patients, various observational studies have been conducted in Western countries. However, in Korea, sufficiently powered prospective clinical studies are scarce. In this review, we conducted a systematic review to be aware of the current status of clinical studies in Korean SLE patients. Identifying the topics for clinical studies that have been performed helps determine how the clinical research should be conducted for Korean SLE patients.