An improved outlook for Crohn's disease

As per a recent study reported by the Mayo Clinic, the administration of infliximab (Remicade) alone or in a combination with azathioprine proves to be an effective treatment methodology for treating Crohn's disease rather than persisting with azathioprine.

Crohn's disease is considered to be an inflammatory disease of the human gastrointestinal tract. It is assumed to affect as many as 500,000 people in the United States alone; no definite cure has been discovered yet to treat this ailment.

In the past, patients suffering from this disease were treated sequentially with some form of steroids, followed by azathioprine and monoclonal anti-bodies like infliximab.

But now, it has been proved that infliximab-based medical strategies prove to be far better than azathioprine alone as per William Sandborn, M.D., the lead author and a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic.

From News-Medical.Net:

The study, conducted at more than 200 sites, included 508 patients who have moderate to severe Crohn's disease. Researchers found that 57 percent of patients who received combination therapy with infliximab and azathioprine achieved steroid-free remission after 26 weeks. This is compared to 44 percent of patients who achieved remission with infliximab monotherapy and 30 percent with azathioprine alone. Both the infliximab combination therapy and infliximab monotherapy groups were statistically superior to the azathioprine group. In addition, 61 percent of patients who received the combination therapy of infliximab and azathioprine also experienced healing of the bowel demonstrated by colonoscopy (mucosal healing). This is important because previous studies have suggested that patients who have mucosal healing are less likely to require hospitalization and surgery.

"Our goal with this study was to determine if infliximab-based treatment strategies were safe and more effective than treatment with azathioprine in these patients," says Dr. Sandborn. "For patients, this new therapy is an opportunity for remission and a significant improvement in quality of life."

This study by Mayo Clinic is expected to offer new and safer treatment opportunities to all those who have been fighting against Crohn's disease.