Long term effects of anti-TNF

A great editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine discusses how the the two current anti-TNF treatments, infliximab and adalimumab, are not living up to their initial promise.

The article examines the latest research into the effectiveness of these antibodies, and notes that responses to infliximab lessen over time. It adds that people who have stopped responding to infliximab will then not respond as well as other people to adalimumab, and they ponder whether the infliximab has changed the underlying nature of the Crohn's disease.

I thoroughly recommend this as required reading for Crohn's patients who are considering starting on an anti-TNF regime.