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Remicade and Cancer Fears
What are your opinions of taking Remicade along with methotrexate for RA? Have had two friends die of cancer when they had been on Remicade for less than a year--there are great fears of this drug perhaps causing cancer. Is methotrexate alone enough of a remedy? Can methotrexate actually slow the progression of RA?
Living in the Great Lakes, I am very familiar with MS--my best friend has had it for 20 years and, as I mentioned, two friends died from cancer within a year of taking Remicade. Did it have anything to do with that? I guess we won't readily know but the cost seems mighty high--the pain of Rheumatoid vs MS or cancer--that's what I call being caught between a rock and a hard place. Thank you both.
hi was just reading your post there i have severe psoriatic arthritis deformed fingers and toes all my fingers have seized completely with arthritis and some are bent over to the side , i was on remacide for 5 years and it made a dramatic change to my life from severe pain to none what so eber i had an iv every 7 weeks of remacide until march this year i woke up with numbness in my left leg which over a few days travelled up my side and face went for an mri and a few months on was diagnosed with ms, the remacide was stopped imediately in march i am now on a med called leflunomide and lots of pain killers i had 5 marvellous years on it but now god knows what the future holds i am now very cautious as to what to go on the rematologist and nuerologist are banging there heads as what to give me as i have refused a few they mentioned due to some severe possible side effects its quite hard to ignore them after what has happened remacide can bring ms on and other diseases think hard before you go on it all the best anyway
Not sure what to think. You really have to weigh the risks of not treating (depending on what kind of involvement you have) and treating. Ask your doctor if he would have his son or daughter or wife take it. I just had this report come across my email today:
Oct. 29, 2009 - Rheumatoid arthritis patients who take the biologic drugs Remicade, Humira, and Enbrel do not appear to have an increased risk for developing cancer in the first few years of use, researchers in Sweden report.
The study is one of the largest and longest population-based investigations ever into the cancer-causing potential of the drugs, known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors.
TNF inhibitors were introduced a decade ago, and they represent a significant advance in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and other diseases of the immune system who do not respond to traditional treatments.
Concerns that the drugs may cause cancer emerged soon after they were introduced, and the research examining the question has been mixed.
The new findings should reassure patients, but questions remain about the short-term and long-term safety of TNF-blocking drugs, rheumatologist Eric Matteson, MD, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., tells WebMD.
The Swedish researchers found no difference in cancer risk among rheumatoid arthritis patients who did and did not take the drugs over six years of follow-up.
"We have to remain vigilant about the possibility that these drugs are associated with an increased risk for cancer, and make sure we use the drugs appropriately," he says. "They should only be used in the patients who really require them."
TNF Blockers Safe?
Also known as TNF blockers, TNF inhibitors target the TNF-alpha protein that is linked to inflammation and is overproduced in inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
TNF-alpha is also a key player in helping the body fight cancer, leading investigators to speculate that blocking it may promote cancer growth.
In the newly published study, researchers from Stockholm's Karolinska University Hospital analyzed data from several Swedish health registries.
The analysis compared cancer incidence among patients who took either Remicade, Humira, or Enbrel with patients who didn't.
It included 6,366 patients who started the TNF-blocking drugs between 1999 and 2006 and roughly 70,000 patients who were either not treated or took other types of drugs.
The researchers found little difference in cancer incidence among patients who did and did not take the TNF inhibitors. Patients who took the TNF-blocking drugs for the full six years of the study had the same cancer risk as patients who took no drugs at all for their rheumatoid arthritis.
There was a suggestion of an increase in cancer risk in patients taking the biologic drugs in the first year of use, but not in the years that followed.
"Our research indicates the overall cancer risk is the same for rheumatoid arthritis patients on (immune-system suppressing) therapies and those not taking medications for the disease," lead researcher Johan Askling, MD, and colleagues write, adding that "given several remaining uncertainties, continued vigilance remains prudent."
Oct. 29, 2009 - Rheumatoid arthritis patients who take the biologic drugs Remicade, Humira, and Enbrel do not appear to have an increased risk for developing cancer in the first few years of use, researchers in Sweden report.
The study is one of the largest and longest population-based investigations ever into the cancer-causing potential of the drugs, known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors.
TNF inhibitors were introduced a decade ago, and they represent a significant advance in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and other diseases of the immune system who do not respond to traditional treatments.
Concerns that the drugs may cause cancer emerged soon after they were introduced, and the research examining the question has been mixed.
The new findings should reassure patients, but questions remain about the short-term and long-term safety of TNF-blocking drugs, rheumatologist Eric Matteson, MD, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., tells WebMD.
The Swedish researchers found no difference in cancer risk among rheumatoid arthritis patients who did and did not take the drugs over six years of follow-up.
"We have to remain vigilant about the possibility that these drugs are associated with an increased risk for cancer, and make sure we use the drugs appropriately," he says. "They should only be used in the patients who really require them."
TNF Blockers Safe?
Also known as TNF blockers, TNF inhibitors target the TNF-alpha protein that is linked to inflammation and is overproduced in inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
TNF-alpha is also a key player in helping the body fight cancer, leading investigators to speculate that blocking it may promote cancer growth.
In the newly published study, researchers from Stockholm's Karolinska University Hospital analyzed data from several Swedish health registries.
The analysis compared cancer incidence among patients who took either Remicade, Humira, or Enbrel with patients who didn't.
It included 6,366 patients who started the TNF-blocking drugs between 1999 and 2006 and roughly 70,000 patients who were either not treated or took other types of drugs.
The researchers found little difference in cancer incidence among patients who did and did not take the TNF inhibitors. Patients who took the TNF-blocking drugs for the full six years of the study had the same cancer risk as patients who took no drugs at all for their rheumatoid arthritis.
There was a suggestion of an increase in cancer risk in patients taking the biologic drugs in the first year of use, but not in the years that followed.
"Our research indicates the overall cancer risk is the same for rheumatoid arthritis patients on (immune-system suppressing) therapies and those not taking medications for the disease," lead researcher Johan Askling, MD, and colleagues write, adding that "given several remaining uncertainties, continued vigilance remains prudent."
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