Francesca Rogai

Mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease: treatment efficacy and predictive factors.

In recent years mucosal healing has emerged as an important therapeutic goal for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Growing evidence suggests that achieving mucosal healing can improve patient outcomes and, potentially, alter the course of the disease. Drugs currently used in the management of inflammatory bowel disease are potentially able of inducing and maintaining mucosal healing, but the effect size is difficult to assess because of different definitions of mucosal healing, differences in study designs, and timing of endoscopic evaluation. Mucosal healing has been studied extensively in the biologic era. Data available from different sources, such as controlled trials and observational studies, show that anti-TNFα therapies can induce rapid and sustained mucosal healing in a variable percentage of patients with Crohns disease and ulcerative colits. No controlled study has been designed to identify possible predictors of mucosal healing. Some clinical characteristics such as extensive disease, young age at diagnosis, and smoking status may be predictive of a more aggressive clinical course and, presumably, of a reduced clinical and endoscopic response to therapy. Changes and normalization of C-reactive protein and faecal calprotectin may be useful tools to predict outcomes, guide the timing for endoscopic evaluation and, possibly, reduce the need of endoscopic evaluation in assessing mucosal healing.

PPARγ in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is member of a family of nuclear receptors that interacts with nuclear proteins acting as coactivators and corepressors. The colon is a major tissue which expresses PPARγ in epithelial cells and, to a lesser degree, in macrophages and lymphocytes and plays a role in the regulation of intestinal inflammation. Indeed, both natural and synthetic PPARγ ligands have beneficial effects in different models of experimental colitis, with possible implication in the therapy of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This paper will specifically focus on potential role of PPARγ in the predisposition and physiopathology of IBD and will analyze its possible role in medical therapy.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Phenotype as Risk Factor for Cancer in a Prospective Multicentre Nested Case-Control IG-IBD Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Cancer risk in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] is still debated. In a prospective, multicentre, nested case-control study, we aimed to characterise incident cases of cancer in IBD. The role of immunomodulators vs clinical characteristics of IBD as risk factors for cancer was also investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS From January 2012 to December 2014, each IBD patient with incident cancer was matched with two IBD patients without cancer for: IBD type, gender, and age. Risk factors were assessed by multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS IBD patients considered numbered 44619: 21953 Crohns disease [CD], 22666 ulcerative colitis [UC]. Cancer occurred in 174 patients: 99 CD [CD-K], 75 UC [UC-K]. Controls included 198 CD [CD-C], 150 UC [UC-C]. Cancer incidence in IBD was 3.9/1000, higher in CD (4.5/1000 [99/21,953]) than in UC (3.3/1000 [75/22,666]; p = 0.042). Cancers involved: digestive system [36.8%], skin [13.2%], urinary tract [12.1%], lung [8.6%], breast [8%], genital tract [6.9%], thyroid [4.6%], lymphoma [3.5%], others [6.3%]. In CD, penetrating behaviour and combined thiopurines and tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNFα] antagonists were risk factors for cancer overall: odds ratio [OR] (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.33 [1.01-5.47]); 1.97 [1.1-3.5]; and for extracolonic cancers 3.9 [1.56-10.1]; 2.15 [1.17-4.1], respectively. In UC, risk factors were pancolitis and disease-related surgery for cancer overall (OR: 2.52 [1.26-5.1]; 5.09 [1.73-17.1]); disease-related surgery for colorectal cancer [CRC] (OR 3.6 [1.0-12]); and extensive and left-sided vs distal UC for extracolonic cancers (OR: 2.55 [1.15-5.9]; 2.6 [1.04-6.6]), respectively. CONCLUSIONS In a multicentre study, penetrating CD and extensive UC were risk factors for cancer overall. Cancer incidence was higher in CD than in UC.

Ustekinumab: moving the target from psoriasis to Crohn's disease

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease whose precise etiology is still unknown, and therefore a causal therapy is not yet available. Studies showing the overexpression of IL-12 and IL-23, polymorphisms in genes encoding those cytokines and their receptors and genome-wide association studies have linked Crohn’s pathogenesis with IL-12/23 pathway. Ustekinumab is a novel therapeutic IgG1 kappa monoclonal antibody that modulates Th1 and Th17 function, by blocking the p40 subunit of both IL-12 and IL-23 and preventing the interaction with their receptors on T cells, natural killer cells and antigen-presenting cells with established efficacy in psoriasis. This review will mainly focus on the available evidence on the role of ustekinumab in moderate-to-severe CD. The potential role of this biologic in the armamentarium of CD therapy is discussed.

Disease Course and Colectomy Rate of Ulcerative Colitis: A Follow-up Cohort Study of a Referral Center in Tuscany.

Background:The disease course and colectomy rate of ulcerative colitis (UC) vary largely in population-based and referral center cohorts. We retrospectively evaluated our cohort to determine the disease course and risk factors for colectomy. Methods:A cohort of 1723 ulcerative colitis patients (986 males; mean age, 34.8 ± 15.4 yrs) were identified and followed since 1960s for a mean of 11 ± 9 years (range, 1–49 yrs). Results:The disease extension was classified as E1, E2, and E3 on diagnosis at 19.7%, 54.2%, and 26.1% of patients, respectively. At the final follow-up, the disease extension increased in 20% of the cases. Extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) were reported by 11% of the patients, whereas systemic corticosteroids (CS), IM or anti-TNF&agr; agents were used by 68.6%, 20.4%, and 6.4% of patients, respectively. The crude colectomy rate was 7% (120 pts), with a 1.2% rate (n = 21) at 1 year from diagnosis (95% CI, 0.7–1.7) and a Kaplan–Meyer estimation of up to 18.2% after 30 years of follow-up. The 1-year colectomy rate showed no significant difference through the decades, whereas the 5-year and 10-year absolute value of colectomy was halved in the last 2 decades compared with the period from 1960 to 1990 (P = 0.01), with a general trend of a reduced colectomy rate at survival curves (P = 0.056). Conclusions:The colectomy rate was low in our cohort and further reduced in the last 2 decades. However, despite the availability of anti-TNF&agr; agents, no further significant reduction of colectomies was observed in the last decade.

DOP093 Characterisation of incident cases of cancer in inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective multicenter matched-pair IG-IBD study

DOP093 Characterisation of incident cases of cancer in inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective multicenter matched-pair IG-IBD study L. Biancone1 *, C. Petruzziello1, A. Armuzzi2, M.L. Scribano3, R. D’Inca4, C. Papi5, L. Spina6, L. Guidi2, A. Kohn3, E. Calabrese1, G. Condino1, S. Onali1, F. Mocciaro7, R. Monterubbianesi3, P. Alvisi8, W. Fries9, G. Riegler10, F. Castiglione11, I. Frankovic4, G. Margagnoni5, R. Di Mitri7, G. Meucci12, F. Rogai13, S. Ardizzone14, A. Orlando15, F. Pallone1. 1Universita di Roma Tor Vergata, Medicina dei sistemi, cattedra di Gastroenterologia, Roma, Italy, 2Universita Cattolica, CIC, Roma, Italy, 3A.O.San Camillo Forlanini, Gastroenterology Unit, Rome, Italy, 4University of Padova, Gastroenterology Department, Padova, Italy, 5AO S. Filippo Neri, UOC GE/Hep, Roma, Italy, 6Universita S. Donato, Gastroenterologia, Milano, Italy, 7ARNAS Civico-Di Cristina-Benfratelli Hospital, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Palermo, Italy, 8Ospedale Maggiore, Pediatria, Bologna, Italy, 9Universita di Messina, Medicina Interna, Messina, Italy, 10Seconda Universita Napoli, SUN, Napoli, Italy, 11Universita “Federico II” di Napoli, Gastroenterologia, Napoli, Italy, 12S. Giuseppe Hospital, Gastroenterology, Milano, Italy, 13AOU Careggi, Largo Brambilla, Gastroenterologia, Firenze, Italy, 14Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Gastroenterology Department, Milano, Italy, 15Ospedale Cervello, Medicina Interna, Palermo, Italy

Clinical efficacy and safety of golimumab in biologically experienced and naive patients with active ulcerative colitis: A real-life experience from two Italian IBD centers: Golimumab for active ulcerative colitis

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of golimumab in biological naive and experienced patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) treated at two Italian IBD centers.

The PROSIT Cohort of Infliximab Biosimilar in IBD: A Prolonged Follow-up on the Effectiveness and Safety Across Italy

BACKGROUND We report a prospective, nationwide cohort evaluating the safety and effectiveness of CT-P13. METHODS A structured database was used to record serious adverse events (SAEs), clinical remission/response, inflammatory biomarkers (CRP and calprotectin), and endoscopic findings. RESULTS Eight hundred ten patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (452 Crohns disease [CD]) were enrolled. Four hundred fifty-nine patients were naïve to anti-TNFα (group A), 196 had a previous exposure (group B), and the remaining 155 were switched to CT-P13 (group C). All patients were included in the safety evaluation with a mean follow-up of 345 ± 215 days and a total number of 6501 infusions. One hundred fifty-four SAEs were reported (19%), leading to cessation of the biosimilar in 103 subjects (12.7%). Infusion reactions were 71, leading to cessation of the biosimilar in 53 subjects (6.5%), being significantly more frequent in patients pre-exposed to anti-TNFα (P = 0.017). The efficacy of therapy was calculated in 754 IBD patients, with a mean follow-up of 329 ± 202 days. Forty-eight patients had a primary failure (6.4%), and 188 (25.6%) lost response during follow-up. Six hundred twenty-eight (364 CD) and 360 IBD patients (222 CD) completed the follow-up at 6 and 12 months, respectively. At 12 months, patients without loss of response were 71%, 64%. and 82% in groups A, B, and C, respectively (log rank P = 0.01). Clinical/endoscopic scores and inflammatory biomarkers dropped significantly in CD and UC patients (P = 0.01 and P < 0.0001) compared with baseline. CONCLUSIONS In this large prospective cohort, no further signals of difference in safety and effectiveness of CT-P13 in IBD has been observed.

Golimumab in inflammatory bowel diseases: present and future scenarios

Golimumab is the third anti-TNF agent approved for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Despite initial success demonstrated by PURSUIT trials, only few real-life studies have been published evaluating its efficacy and safety in clinical practice. Its subcutaneous route and monthly administration represent an advantage in patient compliance, respectively, vs infliximab (intravenous) and adalimumab (two doses per month). The most important weakness of the molecule which often leads clinicians to choose another anti-TNF is the impossibility to dose escalate or reduce the frequency of administrations in case of secondary failure; ongoing studies are trying to solve this problem by monitoring drug levels and the eventual presence of neutralizing anti-drug antibodies. No advantage has still been demonstrated for combination therapy of golimumab with immunosuppressants and further studies are necessary to evaluate this aspect. Preliminary data also report golimumab efficacy in Crohn’s disease with higher doses than in ulcerative colitis with an acceptable safety profile. Additional studies are needed in this field to confirm the initial findings.

P407 Prospective evaluation of clinical efficacy and safety of golimumab in biologic experienced and naïve patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis: experience from a tertiary referral centre

Background: Golimumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody to TNFα approved for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) with inadequate response or intolerance to corticosteroids or immunosuppressive therapy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability profile of golimumab in both biologic naive (BN) and biologic experienced (BE) patients. Methods: Data were prospectively collected from a cohort of UC patients treated with golimumab from March 2015 to November 2016 at our Centre. Descriptive analyses were obtained from two patient cohorts, namely patients who were naive to anti-TNFα therapies (BN) and patients who have already failed biologic treatment with infliximab or adalimumab (BE) or both. Patients received golimumab 200 mg subcutaneously at week 0, 100 mg sc. at week 2, then 50 mg or 100 mg sc. every 4 weeks depending on body weight. The primary outcomes of interest were clinical response to treatment and rate of adverse events (AE). Results: Overall, 27 patients were enrolled. Of these, 11 (41%) were BN and 16 (59%) BE. Baseline patient characteristics and main results are shown in Table 1. The majority of patients received >5 cycles of systemic steroids before starting golimumab (91% and 82% in the BN and BE groups, respectively). According to the Montreal classification of disease extension, most patients were E2 (55% in BN group, 25% in BE group) or E3 (45% and 75% of the BN and BE groups, respectively). Endoscopic disease activity was scored as Mayo 3 in 82% and 80% for BN and BE patients, respectively. Median (range) duration of golimumab therapy was 3 (1–6) months in the BN group and 3 (1–16) months in the BE group. In 3 (27%) patients in the BN group and 4 (25%) in the BE group AEs were recorded, most of which were skin/genito-urinary infections. Of note, two cases of basal cell carcinoma were registered. The overall remission rate was 45% and 25% in the BN and BE patients, respectively. The main cause of golimumab discontinuation was lack or loss of clinical response (specifically in 71% of BN patients and 92% of BE patients). Among unresponder patients, proctocolectomy was performed in 3 cases. Conclusions: In our cohort, clinical remission was obtained in almost half of BN patients but only one quarter of BE patients, with a similar rate of AEs. However, treatment duration was highly variable in our series. Although our findings need to be confirmed in larger series, golimumab therapy seems to achieve better disease control in the biologic naive setting.