II Congress - Safety of immunosuppresive treatment in the management of IBD - Palermo, 9-10 dicembre 2016

This is the second edition of the congress held in December 2014 on the safety of the immunosuppressive and biologics treatment in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). In this edition the focus will also be given within pediatric and surgery fields. Infections and malignancies are the major issues for clinicians in the management of patients with IBD because of concerns about the safety of drugs currently used in treatment, including immunosuppressive agents and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists. Infections are strongly associated with IBD both in their etiopathogenesis and in their clinical course. A number of viral infections, tuberculosis and other therapy-related infections create challenges for the successful management of intestinal disease with immunosuppressive agents or TNF antagonists. Recently published guidelines offer a strong support to deal with these issues. Major concern about IBD patients with malignancies is related to the risk of maintaining immunosuppressant or anti-TNF therapy also after the diagnosis of malignancy and the management of a clinical relapse of IBD in patients with a recent diagnosis of malignancy. Further research is required to optimize strategies for IBD patients with malignancies. At the moment, all therapeutic choice is made on an individual basis, with an integrative multidisciplinary approach. The congress will develop the best strategies for managing these issues and all the sessions will be preceded by a clinical case coherent with the topics. Finally, will present the results of the network on the treatment with biologics of the IBD in Sicily and the final results of AIFA project on the safety of immunosuppressive treatment in IBD in our center.