| Theme |
The frontline of Crohn's disease treatment |
| Title |
Therapeutic options for patients with loss of response to anti-TNF-α agents |
| Author |
Makoto Tanaka |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
| Author |
Kazuhiko Uchiyama |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
| Author |
Tomohisa Takagi |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
| Author |
Yuji Naito |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
Anti-TNF-α agents play a central role in the treatment for Crohn's disease (CD). Because of high efficacy of these therapeutic agents, the number of patients treated with anti-TNF-α antibodies for long term is increasing. However, the number of patients showing loss of response (LOR) has also increased. The solution to this problem might be either a change in the therapeutic regimen (dose escalation or switching to anti-TNF-α agents, additional treatment with immunomodulator and granulocyte/monocyte apheresis) or surgical treatment. Because various mechanisms of LOR have been reported, individual approaches for each patient are required. |