Early Initiation of Biologics and Disease Outcomes in Adults and Children With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Results From the Epidemiology Group of the Nationwide Israeli Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Nucleus Cohort

Rona Lujan, Rachel Buchuk, Gili Focht, Dotan Yogev, Shira Greenfeld, Amir Ben-Tov, Yiska Loewenberg Weisband, Natan Lederman, Eran Matz, Shomron Ben Horin, Iris Dotan, Daniel Nevo, Dan Turner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background & Aims: In this nationwide study, we explored whether early initiation of biologics is associated with improved outcomes in children and adults with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: All patients diagnosed with CD or UC in Israel (2005–2020) were included in the Epidemiology Group of the Israeli Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Nucleus cohort, encompassing 98% of the population. We compared disease duration at biologics initiation (ie, 0–3 months, >3–12 months, >1–2 years, and >2–3 years) using the cloning, censoring, and weighting by inverse probabilities method to emulate a target trial, adjusting for time-varying confounders and selection bias. Results: Of the 34,375 included patients (of whom 5240 [15%] were children), 7452 of 19,264 (39%) with CD and 2235 of 15,111 (15%) with UC received biologics. In CD, by 10 years postdiagnosis, the probability of CD-related surgery decreased gradually but modestly with earlier initiation of biologics; a significant difference was noted between >2–3 years (31%) and 0–3 months (18%; P = .02; number needed to treat, 7.7), whereas there was no difference between the 0–3-month and >3–12-month periods. The 10-year probability of steroid dependency for the 0–3-month period (19%) differed both from the >2–3-year (31%; P < .001) and 1–2-year periods (37%; P < .001). In UC, no significant differences in colectomy or steroid dependency rates were observed between the treatment initiation periods. Similar trends were noted in the pediatric population. Conclusions: Very early initiation of biologics was not associated with some outcomes except for a modest risk reduction of surgery and steroid dependency for CD, which requires confirmation in future studies. In UC, early introduction of biologics was not associated with reduced risk of colectomy or steroid dependency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)815-825.e22
JournalGastroenterology
Volume166
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 AGA Institute

Keywords

  • Biologics Initiation
  • Crohn's Disease
  • Steroid Dependency
  • Surgery
  • Ulcerative Colitis

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