Currently, the treatment of SLE is mainly based on the principles of delaying disease progression, reducing complications and protecting the functions of important organs, which mainly includes general treatment, drug treatment and other treatments, among which drug treatment is the main modality. General treatment mainly includes patient education to make patients understand the disease correctly, eliminate fear, instruct patients to follow medical advice, follow up regularly and understand the necessity of long-term follow-up, avoid excessive exposure to ultraviolet light, and remove various factors affecting the prognosis of the disease, such as controlling blood pressure and preventing infection. Drug therapy mainly includes glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive therapy. Glucocorticoids are mainly used to suppress immune damage, and shock therapy can also be used in critical cases. Immunosuppressants are represented by methotrexate, cyclophosphamide and hydroxychloroquine, and also include cyclosporine, azathioprine, leflunomide and tacrolimus, etc. They are mainly used to reduce the damage caused by SLE by suppressing the immune response. They can be used clinically either alone or in combination. Hydroxychloroquine is currently considered as a background treatment for SLE. Other treatments for SLE mainly include massive immunoglobulin injections, plasma replacement, and autologous stem cell transplantation, but they are not routine treatment items. In addition, Chinese medicine has a role in the treatment of SLE, such as delaying the progression of the disease and reducing adverse drug reactions. Since SLE is a highly heterogeneous disease, drug treatment regimens should be individualized. Clinicians need to develop suitable drug treatment regimens based on the correct evaluation of the severity of the patient’s disease and general physical condition. Since SLE has a high incidence, can cause multi-system and multi-organ damage, and has a certain degree of lethality, early diagnosis and early treatment are advocated. At present, drug therapy is still the main treatment, while patient education should be emphasized to avoid and delay irreversible damage to important organs as much as possible and improve the quality of life.