In this Danish nationwide study, exposure to TNF-α antagonists among patients with IBD was not associated with an increased risk of cancer over a median follow-up of 3.7 years among those exposed. An increased risk associated with longer-term accumulated doses and follow-up cannot be excluded.
Our results show a lasting benefit of infliximab rescue therapy in 61% of patients with acute, steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis, a low incidence of late colectomies, and low frequency of steroid use in patients who avoided colectomy. High levels of C-reactive protein on admittance and at the first infliximab infusion were associated with colectomy. Our study adds to the growing experience of infliximab treatment of patients with acute, steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis.
The literature review revealed an up to four-fold increased risk of demyelinating diseases, in particular MS, in IBD patients in general. The risk of developing MS in the anti-TNFα treated Danish cohort did apparently not exceed this risk.
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