MedPage Today featured a study by HSS chief of pediatric rheumatology Karen Brandt Onel, MD, who investigated treatment withdrawal in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) taking tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors.

"Whether anti-TNF treatment can be stopped in children with JIA is the really big question we'd like to answer in the next 10 years," said Dr. Onel at the Rheumatology Nurses Society annual meeting.

According to the article, sixty percent of the patients involved in the study experienced a flare after their anti-TNF therapy stopped.

"Currently, I view stopping anti-TNF therapy more like a long medicine holiday, and advise patients that there's a chance they will have to go back on the treatment. But if you're talking about children and injections, sometimes they do need a breather," added Dr. Onel.

Read the full article at medpagetoday.com.