Participating in a clinical study contributes to medical knowledge. Without clinical studies, there can be no better treatments, no prevention and no cure for lupus. The results of these studies can make a difference in the care of future patients by providing information about the benefits and risks of therapeutic, preventative or diagnostic products or interventions.

A clinical study to further understand the safety and effectiveness of belimumab in lupus is now accepting participants of black race or mixed black race. Individuals of black race and mixed black race are diagnosed with lupus two to three times more frequently than other races, and often lupus may be more severe in these patients.

In the studies that have already been completed with belimumab, not enough information was learned to be able to understand the effect of belimumab in the black race population. This was because some of the study results showed that fewer black race patients who received belimumab responded to treatment compared with the same study population who did not receive belimumab, while other study results showed that black race patients responded at least as well as patients of other races. It is important to understand if black race patients with lupus improve with belimumab treatment, which is the purpose of this study.

Learn more about this study enrolling people with lupus that are of black race or mixed black race. For more information, please visit http://www.lupusfoundation.org/clinicaltrials/belimumab-studies.html