According to a story from Healio, a recent study has found that 58 percent of patients with the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis will experience relapse within one year after stopping treatment with infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody. This finding presents a challenge in ankylosing spondylitis treatment. While infliximab can be an effective option for some patients, the risk of severe side effects means that it isn’t really possible for patients to use it indefinitely.
About Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a rare form of arthritis which is characterized by long term inflammation of the spinal joints. Other joints may also be affected. The precise cause of ankylosing spondylitis has not been identified. A host of environmental and genetic factors may play a role; for example, a study found that the majority of patients in the UK presented with the HLA-B27 antigen. The onset of ankylosing spondylitis symptoms often begins in early adulthood. These symptoms may include relapsing/remitting back pain, progressive joint stiffening, fatigue, fever, and weight loss. Inflammation can spread to other parts of the body, such as the eyes, the cardiovascular system, and lungs. No cure for the disease exists, so treatment focuses on pain management and slowing disease progression. Treatment may include NSAIDs, opioids, TNF inhibitors, physical therapy, surgery, and some others. Unfortunately, most therapies can cause serious side effects with long term use. To learn more about ankylosing spondylitis, click here.
Study Results
Generally, the introduction of TNF inhibitor style drugs like infliximab has marked a significant improvement in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. The majority of patients see their condition improve and up to 30 percent see their disease go into remission.
The study looked at data from a total of 107 ankylosing spondylitis patients. Of this group, 36 of them obtained remission for at least six months after using infliximab. After the cessation of treatment, 21 patients experienced disease relapse. Even after infliximab therapy was reissued, only 52 percent were able to obtain remission, and ten percent failed to respond to the treatment at all.
These results reveal that while infliximab can be effective, halting treatment results in relapse most of the time, and the chances of a patient responding to the drug as well as the first time are far lower.
The study was originally published in the scientific journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.
