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Dermatological complications and safety of anti-TNF treatments

Joseph F Kerbleski, Alice B Gottlieb

Tufts Medical Center, Department of Dermatology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Correspondence to:
Dr Joseph F Kerbleski, Department of Dermatology, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St, Box 114, Boston, MA 02111, USA; JKerbleski@tuftsmedicalcenter.org

Revised version received 2 March 2009

Accepted 5 March 2009

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It has been reported that tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors have adverse side-effects including infections, malignancies, demyelinating disease, and induction of autoimmune conditions. Dermatological complications of anti-TNF therapy include injection site reactions, cutaneous infections, allergic rashes, psoriasis, non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), and rare reports of lupus-like syndrome, erythema multiforme (EM), Steven’s Johnson syndrome (SJS), and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN).

Currently, there are four TNF inhibitors approved by the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA): etanercept (Enbrel; Amgen, Thousand Oaks, California, USA, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, USA), infliximab (Remicade; Centacor, Horsham, Philadelphia, USA), adalimumab (Humira; Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA), and certolizumab pegol (Cimzia; UCB, Smyrna, Georgia, USA). They are prescribed for and have revolutionised the treatment of various immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, most notably Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Almost 2 million patients worldwide have been treated with them since their introduction.¹

. . . [Full text of this article]

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