Anti-tumor necrosis factor α and anti-integrin biologic therapies are effective for induction and maintenance of remission in moderate to severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. However, clinicians face many challenges in determining the best course of action when a patient does not respond or loses response to a biologic therapy. When patients are found to have continued active inflamma...

INTRODUCTION Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is one of the most prevalent opportunistic infections in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy. In this article, we discuss risk factors for PCP development in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during the course of biologic therapy and describe a prophylactic treatment for PCP with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX). We also evaluate ...

INTRODUCTION This study examined the use of anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) monotherapy, adherence with non-biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (nbDMARDs) in patients receiving a combination of anti-TNF therapies and nbDMARDs, and the impact of nbDMARD adherence on anti-TNF persistence among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Patients with RA (aged ≥18 years) f...

The development of biologic agents for therapeutic purposes, or biomedicines, has seen an active area of research both at the bench and in clinical trials. There is mounting evidence that biologic products can provide effective therapy for diseases that have been unresponsive to traditional pharmacologic approaches. Monoclonal antibody therapy for cancer and rheumatologic diseases has become a ...

Biologic therapy has dramatically changed the way medicine, and specifically dermatology, is practiced today. The use of biologic agents in dermatology is evolving, with psoriasis being the most common indication for which biologics are used currently. However, several other dermatologic diseases seem to be responsive to biologic therapy, and continuing research and development efforts are eluc...

Objective: To review the literature regarding efficacy and safety of off-label use apremilast in combination therapies for psoriasis psoriatic arthritis other currently inflammatory dermatoses. Methods: The Medline database was queried all relevant articles published between 2014 2021 using exploded MeSH terms keywords pertaining to following themes: off-label, therapy, biologics, biologic meth...

Biologic therapies are becoming the preferred treatment option for many complex medical conditions, especially in the areas of oncology and immunology. Cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, and immunomodulators all have their own specific roles, clinical applications, mechanisms of action, and side effects. As newer biologic agents are approved and used for treatment, the nurse involved in the care...