LIFT: A clinical study success story for Lupus

In a clinical study called LIFT, more than a thousand SLE patients came together and demonstrated, for the first time, that genomic markers relevant to Lupus can be measured from home. The LIFT story demonstrated the power of patient-centric research. The LIFT study is also an important first step towards making precision medicine a reality for Lupus.

It started with a vision of a new future for SLE 

Lupus is a highly individualized disease, so treatments for SLE should be personalized. That’s the goal of precision medicine: the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time. In order to make precision medicine a reality, we need easy, reliable ways to monitor every patient’s unique disease signature. In other words, we need precision medicine tests for Lupus.

What we learned about IFN-1 in LIFT

Past research has shown that IFN-1 activity is critically important for Lupus (see Meet Your Biomarkers), however IFN-1 isn’t routinely measured due to technical limitations. New genomic technologies enable cost-effective measurement, and in LIFT, we demonstrated that it can even be done robustly from home. We also showed that there were two distinct patient groups, IFN-1 normal and IFN-1 high. This had been shown before, but never using a home collection kit.

The researchers also found that the IFN-1 status differs based on factors such as race and age of diagnosis. Patients of color (African American, Hispanic and Asian) as well as patients diagnosed with SLE before their 18^th birthday are more likely to exhibit high levels of IFN-1 activity.