USE OF BIOLOGICAL AGENTS AT UNIVERSITY CLINICAL CENTER MARIBOR
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individual biological agents, despite their specific activity on targets, cover very broad spectrum of possibilities for use in treatment of different diseases. Their clinical use is limited toexact indications with criteria of use. Biological agents are most frequently indicated andused for the treatment of diseases, which were unsuccessfully treated with standard therapy. METHODS Use of biological agents in clinical practice at Department of rheumatology, Department ofhematology, Department of gastroenterology at Clinic of internal medicine, Departmentof skin and venereal diseases and Department of gynecologic and breast oncology atClinic of gynecology and perinatology was analyzed. RESULTS Biological agents were used for the treatment of 195 patients. All currently registeredbiological agents were used except anakinra, abatacept and bevacizumab. Most (86)patients were treated with infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab at the Department ofrheumatology, the most frequently because of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosingspondylitis. 69 patients were treated with trastuzumab because of breast cancer. 14patients were treated with rituximab, ibritumomab tiukseatan, alemtuzumab andbortezomib at the Department of hematology because of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cellchronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma. 13 patients with Crohn’s disease orulcerative colitis were treated with infliximab. 11 patients were treated with efalizumaband 2 with infliximab because of psoriasis. CONCLUSIONS Expansion of therapeutic indications is expected with more frequent use of biological agentsin patients with different associated diseases. Use of biological agents earlier in the courseof disease and development of new biologics, with effect on new targets in pathogenesis ofdiseases, can be expected on the basis of new researchesDownloads
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