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Infections
Patients taking TNF-blockers are more susceptible to serious infections. Impaired lung function may increase the risk for developing infections. Patients must therefore be monitored closely for infections, including tuberculosis, before, during and after treatment with Humira. Because the elimination of adalimumab may take up to five months, monitoring should be continued throughout this period.
Treatment with Humira should not be initiated in patients with active infections including chronic or localized infections until infections are controlled. In patients who have been exposed to tuberculosis and patients who have travelled in areas of high risk of tuberculosis or endemic mycoses, such as histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, or blastomycosis, the risk and benefits of treatment with Humira should be considered prior to initiating therapy (see Opportunistic infections).
Patients who develop a new infection while undergoing treatment with Humira, should be monitored closely and undergo a complete diagnostic eva luation. Administration of Humira should be discontinued if a patient develops a new serious infection or sepsis, and appropriate antimicrobial or antifungal therapy should be initiated until the infection is controlled. Physicians should exercise caution when considering the use of Humira in patients with a history of recurring infection or with underlying conditions which may predispose patients to infections, including the use of concomitant immunosuppressive medications.
Serious infections:
Serious infections, including sepsis, due to bacterial, mycobacterial, invasive fungal, parasitic, viral, or other opportunistic infections such as listeriosis, and pneumocystis have been reported in patients receiving Humira.
Other serious infections seen in clinical trials include pneumonia, pyelonephritis, septic arthritis and septicaemia. Hospitalisation or fatal outcomes associated with infections have been reported.
Tuberculosis:
There have been reports of tuberculosis in patients receiving Humira. It should be noted that in the majority of those reports, tuberculosis was extra-pulmonary, i.e. disseminated.
Before initiation of therapy with Humira, all patients must be eva luated for both, active or inactive (latent) tuberculosis infection. This eva luation should include a detailed medical history of patients with a personal history of tuberculosis or possible previous exposure to patients with active tuberculosis and previous and/or current immunosuppressive therapy. Appropriate screening tests, i.e. tuberculin skin test and chest X ray, should be performed in all patients (local recommendations may apply). It is recommended that the conduct of these tests should be recorded in the patient alert card. Prescribers are reminded of the risk of false negative tuberculin skin test results, especially in patients who are severely ill or immunocompromised.
If active tuberculosis is diagnosed, Humira therapy must not be initiated (see section 4.3).
If latent tuberculosis is suspected, a physician with expertise in the treatment of tuberculosis should be consulted. In all situations described below, the benefit/risk balance of therapy should be very carefully considered.
If inactive ('latent') tuberculosis is diagnosed, appropriate treatment for latent tuberculosis must be started with anti-tuberculosis prophylaxis therapy before the initiation of Humira, and in accordance with local recommendations.
In patients who have several or significant risk factors for tuberculosis and have a negative test for latent tuberculosis, anti-tuberculosis therapy should also be considered before the initiation of Humira.
Use of anti-tuberculosis therapy should also be considered before the initiation of Humira in patients with a past history of latent or active tuberculosis in whom an adequate course of treatment cannot be confirmed. Some patients who have previously received treatment for latent or active tuberculosis have developed active tuberculosis while being treated with Humira.
Patients should be instructed to seek medical advice if signs/symptoms (e.g., persistent cough, wasting/weight loss, low grade fever) suggestive of a tuberculosis infection occur during or after therapy with Humira.
Other opportunistic infections:
Opportunistic infections, including invasive fungal infections have been observed in patients receiving Humira. These infections have not consistently been recognised in patients taking TNF-blockers and this resulted in delays in appropriate treatment, sometimes resulting in fatal outcomes.
For patients who develop the signs and symptoms such as fever, malaise, weight loss, sweats, cough, dyspnea, and/or pulmonary infiltrates or other serious systemic illness with or without concomitant shock an invasive fungal infection should be suspected and administration of Humira should be promptly discontinued. Diagnosis and administration of empiric antifungal therapy in these patients should be made in consultation with a physician with expertise in the care of patients with invasive fungal infections.
Hepatitis B reactivation
Reactivation of hepatitis B has occurred in patients who are chronic carriers of this virus when receiving a TNF-antagonist including Humira. Some cases have had a fatal outcome. Patients at risk for HBV infection should be eva luated for prior evidence of HBV infection before initiating Humira therapy. Carriers of HBV who require treatment with Humira should be closely monitored for signs and symptoms of active HBV infection throughout therapy and for several months following termination of therapy. Adequate data from the treatment of patients who are carriers of HBV with anti-viral therapy in conjunction with TNF-antagonist therapy to prevent HBV reactivation are not available. In patients who develop HBV reactivation, Humira should be stopped and effective anti-viral therapy with appropriate supportive treatment should be initiated.
Neurological events
TNF-antagonists including Humira have been associated in rare instances with new onset or exacerbation of clinical symptoms and/or radiographic evidence of demyelinating disease including multiple sclerosis. Prescribers should exercise caution in considering the use of Humira in patients with pre-existing or recent-onset central nervous system demyelinating disorders.
Allergic reactions
Serious allergic adverse reactions have not been reported with subcutaneous administration of Humira during clinical trials. Non-serious allergic reactions associated with Humira were uncommon during clinical trials. In postmarketing, serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis have been reported very rarely following Humira administration. If an anaphylactic reaction or other serious allergic reaction occurs, administration of Humira should be discontinued immediately and appropriate therapy initiated.
The needle cover of the syringe contains natural rubber (latex). This may cause severe allergic reactions in patients sensitive to latex.
Immunosuppression
In a study of 64 patients with rheumatoid arthritis that were treated with Humira, there was no evidence of depression of delayed-type hypersensitivity, depression of immunoglobulin levels, or change in enumeration of effector T-, B, - NK-cells, monocyte/macrophages, and neutrophils.
Malignancies and lymphoproliferative disorders
In the controlled portions of clinical trials of TNF-antagonists, more cases of malignancies including lymphoma have been observed among patients receiving a TNF-antagonist compared with control patients. However, the occurrence was rare. In the post marketing setting, cases of leukemia have been reported in patients treated with a TNF-antagonist. There is an increased background risk for lymphoma and leukemia in rheumatoid arthritis patients with long-standing highly active, inflammatory disease, which complicatesthe risk estimation. With the current knowledge, a possible risk for the development of lymphomas, leukemia, and other malignancies in patients treated with a TNF-antagonist cannot be excluded.
Malignancies, some fatal, have been reported among children, adolescents and young adults (up to 22 years of age) treated with TNF-blocking agents (initiation of therapy  18 years of age), including adalimumab in the post marketing setting. Approximately half the cases were lymphomas. The other cases represented a variety of different malignancies and included rare malignancies usually associated with immunosuppression. A risk for the development of malignancies in children and adolescents treated with TNF-blockers cannot be excluded.
Rare postmarketing cases of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma have been identified in patients treated with adalimumab. This rare type of T-cell lymphoma has a very aggressive disease course and is usually fatal. Some of these hepatosplenic T-cell lymphomas with Humira have occurred in young adult patients on concomitant treatment with azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine used for Crohn's disease. A risk for the development of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma in patients treated with Humira cannot be excluded (see section 4.8).
No studies have been conducted that include patients with a history of malignancy or in whom treatment with Humira is continued following development of malignancy. Thus additional caution should be exercised in considering Humira treatment of these patients (see section 4.8).
All patients, and in particular patients with a medical history of extensive immunosuppressant therapy or psoriasis patients with a history of PUVA treatment should be examined for the presence of non-melanoma skin cancer prior to and during treatment with Humira.In an exploratory clinical trial eva luating the use of another anti-TNF agent, infliximab, in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), more malignancies, mostly in the lung or head and neck, were reported in infliximab-treated patients compared with control patients. All patients had a history of heavy smoking. Therefore, caution should be exercised when using any TNF-antagonist in COPD patients, as well as in patients with increased risk for malignancy due to heavy smoking.
Haematologic reactions
Rare reports of pancytopaenia including aplastic anaemia have been reported with TNF antagonists. Adverse events |
