0000000000398618
AUTHOR
Erika Angelucci
Advanced age is an independent risk factor for severe infections and mortality in patients given anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy for inflammatory bowel disease.
See related article, Oostlander AE et al, on page 116 in Gastroenterology. BACKGROUND & AIMS: Few data are available on effects of biologic therapies in patients more than 65 years old with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We evaluated the risk and benefits of therapy with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in these patients. METHODS: We collected data from patients with IBD treated with infliximab (n 2475) and adalimumab (n 604) from 2000 to 2009 at 16 tertiary centers. Ninety-five patients (3%) were more than 65 years old (52 men; 37 with ulcerative colitis and 58 with Crohn’s disease; 78 treated with infliximab and 17 with adalimumab). The control group comprised 190 patients 65 yea…
Cancer in Crohn's Disease patients treated with infliximab: a long-term multicenter matched pair study
Background: The long-term risk of neoplasia in Crohn's disease (CD) patients treated with infliximab is undefined. The aim was to assess, in a multicenter, matched-pair study, whether infliximab use in CD is associated with an increased frequency of neoplasia in the long term. Methods: A multicenter, long-term, matched-pair study was conducted in 12 referral inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) centers. An initial cohort of 808 CD patients, including 404 infliximab-treated (CD-IFX) and 404 matched CD controls never treated with infliximab (CD-C) studied from 1999 to 2004, was followed up for an additional 4 years (2004–2008). Cases and controls were matched for: sex, age (±5 years), CD site, fo…