Methotrexate no aid to infliximab

Medpage Today reports the preliminary results of a study which indicated that the common combination of infliximab plus methotrexate is no more effective than infliximab alone. The drugs have very different methods of operation, and are both effective in controlling the symptoms of Crohn's Disease in some people. Until now, it has been commonly believed that the effectiveness of infliximab is improved by concurrent use of methotrexate. However, this report states:

Patients receiving the combination had the same treatment success rate as others treated with infliximab alone in a 50-week, placebo-controlled trial, reported Brian Feagan, M.D., of the Robarts Research Institute in London, Ontario, at Digestive Disease Week.

If further research backs up this finding then there'll be a lot of happy patients who'll be able to reduce the number of injections they need to take. In addition, fewer medications should lead to fewer side-effects.