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Abstract
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with a relatively high prevalence rate in North America. More than 50% of CD patients require surgery at some stage of their disease. Anti-TNF-α drugs are increasingly being used in patients with CD who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy. Treatment with anti-TNF-α agents aims at improving symptom control and reducing the need for hospitalization and surgery. This review examines the clinical effectiveness of three anti-TNF-α agents (infliximab, adalimumab and etanercept) in moderate and severe CD. The review further considers the evidence for the harms and benefits associated with switching from one anti-TNF-α agent to another and strategies to optimize the timing of therapy.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Financial support for this work was provided by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH); an independent, not-for-profit agency funded by Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments to provide credible, impartial advice and evidence-based information about the effectiveness of drugs and other health technologies to Canadian healthcare decision makers. For more information visit www.cadth.ca. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.