Precision medicine in Sjögren's disease

Abstract

Sjögren's disease is a clinically and pathophysiologically heterogeneous disease to which precision medicine, on the basis of clinical and biological heterogeneity, has been not always applicable. In patients with Sjögren's disease, the relationship between dysregulated biological pathways and symptoms such as fatigue and pain or clinical manifestations is often difficult to establish. This clinical and biological dissociation also poses challenges when defining appropriate clinical endpoints for clinical trials. In the last few years, however, research efforts have been focused on gaining a better understanding of the considerable heterogeneity of Sjögren's disease by developing stratification models aimed at clustering patients with this condition into homogenous subgroups characterised by distinctive molecular signatures, biomarkers, clinical features, and outcomes. In this Review, we discuss current evidence regarding clinical, laboratory, histological, and biomolecular stratification in Sjögren's disease and examine how available stratification data can guide precision medicine and inform the design of future clinical trials.