Anti-inflammatory therapy with canakinumab for atherosclerotic disease: lessons from the CANTOS trial

Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the development of atherosclerosis and in plaque instability (1). This has led to the hope that agents inhibiting inflammatory pathways in atherosclerosis can be employed to improve the clinical outcome of patients with coronary disease over and above treatments that target cholesterol accumulation and platelet initiated thrombosis (2).