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Review
. 2020 Sep 15:13:339-350.
doi: 10.2147/CEG.S237646. eCollection 2020.

Risk of Lymphoma Associated with Anti-TNF Therapy in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Implications for Therapy

Jessica Dahmus  1 , Michelle Rosario  1 , Kofi Clarke  1
Affiliations
Review

Risk of Lymphoma Associated with Anti-TNF Therapy in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Implications for Therapy

Jessica Dahmus et al. Clin Exp Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (ATA) therapy plays a significant role in the treatment of moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There are concerns regarding risks associated with their use, including malignancy and, specifically, lymphoma. Many previous studies have sought to determine whether there is a true link between ATA therapy in IBD and development of lymphoma. However they have been hindered by short follow-up times, few cases, and confounding factors such as previous thiopurine exposure. This review seeks to update the literature by evaluating more recent studies assessing the link between ATA monotherapy and lymphoma development. It also summarizes findings of those studies and provides additional clinical guidance pertaining to this class of biologic therapy.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; biologics; cancer; hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma; malignancy; ulcerative colitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Clarke has reviewed research grants and is a consultant for Pfizer; He is on the speaker’s bureau for Pfizer, Janssen, Takeda and ABBvie and reports no other potential conflicts of interest for this work. Dr. Dahmus and Dr. Rosario report no conflicts of interest for this work.

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