Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Anti-TNFα Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

In this video, Dr. Gregor Novak, MD, University Medical Centre Ljubljana Department of Gastroenterology in Slovenia, discusses the current work to improve the outcome for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

IBD is a chronic immune-mediated disease, mostly affecting the bowel, and results in symptoms such as abdominal pain, blood in the stool, and urgencies to pass stool. As a result, patients with IBD often develop serious overall reductions in quality of life. Anti-TNFα are biological drugs used to treat IBD patients. However, many patients do not respond well to these drugs or lose response. Dr. Novak’s presentation focuses on therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of anti-TNFα with the aim to improve clinical management of patients. Clinical scenarios are presented in which TDM can improve clinical decision-making.