Anti-TNF therapy is associated with an increased risk of serious infections in patients with rheumatoid arthritis especially in the first 6 months of treatment

updated results from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register with special emphasis on risks in the elderly

Galloway, James B.
Hyrich, Kimme L.
Mercer, Louise K.
Dixon, William G.
Fu, Bo
Ustianowski, Andrew P.
Watson, Kath D.
Lunt, Mark
Symmons, Deborah P. M.

¹Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit, The University of Manchester and ²Department of Infectious Diseases, North Manchester General Hospital, Manchester, UK.

Correspondence to: Deborah Symmons, Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit, The University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

*See Appendix 1 for the members of the BSRBR Control Centre Consortium.

Received April 1, 2010

Rheumatology 50(1):p 124-131, January 2011. | DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/keq242

Objectives. To evaluate the risk of serious infections (SIs) in patients with RA treated with anti-TNF therapy with emphasis on the risk across different ages.

Methods. Using data from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register, a prospective observational study, we compared the risk of SI between 11 798 anti-TNF-treated patients and 3598 non-biologic DMARD (nbDMARD)-treated patients.

Results. A total of 1808 patients had at least one SI (anti-TNF: 1512; nbDMARD: 296). Incidence rates were: anti-TNF 42/1000 patient-years of follow-up (95% CI 40, 44) and nbDMARD 32/1000 patient-years of follow-up (95% CI 28, 36). The adjusted hazard ratio (adjHR) for SI in the anti-TNF cohort was 1.2 (95% CI 1.1, 1.5). The risk did not differ significantly between the three agents adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab. The risk was highest during the first 6 months of therapy [adjHR 1.8 (95% CI 1.3, 2.6)]. Although increasing age was an independent risk factor for SI in both cohorts, there was no difference in relative risk of infection in patients on anti-TNF therapy in the older population. There was no difference in hospital stay for SI between cohorts. Mortality within 30 days of SI was 50% lower in the anti-TNF cohort [odds ratio 0.5 (95% CI 0.3, 0.8)].

Conclusions. These data add to currently available evidence suggesting that anti-TNF therapy is associated with a small but significant overall risk of SI. This must be balanced against the risks associated with poor disease control or alternative treatments.