A Personalized Medicine Approach to the Management of IBD
A Personalized Medicine Approach to the Management of IBD
Contrary to the traditional approach, there is strong evidence that titrating drug therapy toward symptomatic relief in CD is not an effective strategy and can predispose patients to potential complications. The relatively new concept of "treat to target" is therefore becoming more popular. This strategy, which is largely extrapolated from treatment algorithms for other inflammatory disorders, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, revolves around serial objective evaluations of inflammatory burden through endoscopic, radiologic, and biochemical parameters. Endoscopic response "mucosal healing" is by far the most robust outcome based on many studies. As such, treatment algorithms for CD based on this strategy has been proposed. Validated scoring systems, uniformly accepted definitions, and reliable time frames are needed to optimize this approach.
Treat to Target
Contrary to the traditional approach, there is strong evidence that titrating drug therapy toward symptomatic relief in CD is not an effective strategy and can predispose patients to potential complications. The relatively new concept of "treat to target" is therefore becoming more popular. This strategy, which is largely extrapolated from treatment algorithms for other inflammatory disorders, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, revolves around serial objective evaluations of inflammatory burden through endoscopic, radiologic, and biochemical parameters. Endoscopic response "mucosal healing" is by far the most robust outcome based on many studies. As such, treatment algorithms for CD based on this strategy has been proposed. Validated scoring systems, uniformly accepted definitions, and reliable time frames are needed to optimize this approach.
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