• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Infliximab Long Term - Minimal Risk?

Hi all. My 32 year old wife has been on infliximab for about 7 years, and has been in remission ever since for very aggressive crohns which had previously resulted in much of her intestines needing to be removed through surgery.

On her last 6-monthly checkup, she was told that she needs to decide whether to stay on infliximab, due to the increased risk of lymphoma.

From my basic research though, whilst the risk is increased it doesn't appear to be dramatically so (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2925472/). About 3-4x higher than a very low average?

She has been told that if her crohns comes back, she will not survive it (due to the removal of so much intestine already). She has also been told that she would be unlikely to survive lymphoma.

I was extremely encouraged to see on this forum that many people have been on infliximab for much longer than 7 years.

I was wondering, is there any other risk I am missing from staying on infliximab? It seems like an obvious choice to stay on the drug, but the doctor has said it needs to be her decision, making her more concerned that there is a pressing need to come off as soon as she can?

Thank you
 

Lisa

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
New York, USA
I have been on it for over 10 years now, with NO mention of any increased risk of cancer from my doctor.....
 
Top