What the trial was testing
The SELECT-GCA enrolled 429 patients with vasculitis. The study was sponsored by AbbVie and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
46% of patients taking upadacitinib stayed in remission versus 29% on steroids alone.
The New England journal of medicine · 2025 · NCT03725202
These findings — that nearly half maintained disease control with less steroid use — were published in the The New England journal of medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 429 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with vasculitis, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Upadacitinib is FDA-approved for other inflammatory conditions but not yet specifically for giant cell arteritis. If you have giant cell arteritis that's hard to control or you want to reduce steroid use, talk to your doctor about whether this treatment might be an option through off-label use or clinical trials.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open vasculitis trials
DANIsh VASculitis Database (DANIVAS)
The aim of this national pragmatic observational study is to investigate whether the use of new diagnostic imaging modalities facilitates disease stratification that can potentially predict treatment response, relapse risk and complications and hence guide management strategies to improve disease control and reduce disease and treatment related damage.
A Clinical Study of YTS109 Cell in R/R Autoimmune Diseases
This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of YTS109 cells in adults with relapsed/refractory autoimmune diseases, such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), etc. Aproximately 6-12 patients aged 18-65 will receive a single infusion of YTS109 cells (1.5×10⁶ cells/kg). The main purpose of exploratory clinical research is to explore the efficacy and safety of YTS109 cell and the lymphodepletion regimen. The primary endpoint is observations of types, severity, and frequency of adverse events (AEs) and efficacy assessment. This single-arm, open-label trial will enroll patients across Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital.