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In order to identify the practical implications for both health care practitioners and patients in understanding differences between the results of trials assessing therapies for ulcerative colitis [UC], we reviewed clinical trials of therapies for moderate to severe UC, with a focus on trial design. Over time, patient populations in UC trials have become more refractory, reflecting that patients are failing treatment with additional and different classes of drug, including conventional therapies, immunosuppressant drugs, and anti-tumour necrosis factor therapies. Outcomes used to measure efficacy have become increasingly stringent in order to meet the expectations of patients and physicians, and the requirements of regulatory bodies. Trial design has also evolved to integrate induction and maintenance therapy phases, so as to facilitate patient recruitment and to answer clinically important questions such as how efficacious therapies are in specific subpopulations of patients and during long-term use. As UC clinical trial design continues to evolve, and with limited head-to-head trials and real-world comparative effectiveness studies evaluating UC therapies, careful judgment is required to appreciate the differences and similarities in trial designs, and to understand how these variances may affect the observed efficacy and safety outcomes.

Background Tofacitinib is an oral, small-molecule JAK inhibitor for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). Efficacy and safety of tofacitinib were demonstrated in patients with moderate to severe UC in 3 Phase 3 studies.1 Here, we present data from an ongoing, open-label, long-term extension (OLE) study.2 Methods We present updated safety and efficacy data from the OLE study (OCTAVE Open, NCT01470612; as of May 2019, database not locked). Eligible patients included non-responders (Week 8 data) in OCTAVE Induction 1 and 2 (NCT01465763; NCT01458951) and completers (Week 52 data) or treatment failures (early-termination data) in OCTAVE Sustain (NCT01458574). Patients in remission (total Mayo score ≤2, no individual subscore >1, rectal bleeding [RB] subscore 0) at Week 52 of OCTAVE Sustain (central read) received tofacitinib 5 mg twice daily (BID); all others received 10 mg BID. Induction non-responders without clinical response (≥3-point and ≥30% decrease from induction study baseline total Mayo score, plus ≥1-point RB subscore decrease or absolute RB subscore ≤1) at Month 2 of the OLE study were withdrawn. Incidence rates (IRs) for adverse events (AEs) of special interest were calculated (no. of unique patients with events per 100 patient-years). Efficacy endpoints were derived from Mayo score (local read) with non-responder and last observation carried forward imputation (NRI-LOCF) [a]. Results Of 944 patients who received ≥1 dose of tofacitinib, 769 (81.5%) received 10 mg BID (median duration [range]: 5 mg BID 1170 [36–2066]; 10 mg BID 668 [1–2159] days). In total, 338 (35.8%) and 93 (9.9%) patients discontinued due to insufficient clinical response and AEs (excl. worsening UC), respectively. IRs (95% confidence interval) in the Tofacitinib. All group were: deaths 0.18 (0.05, 0.47); serious infections 1.57 (1.08, 2.19); herpes zoster (non-serious and serious) 3.27 (2.54, 4.14); major adverse cardiovascular events 0.14 (0.03, 0.40); malignancies excl. non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) 0.92 (0.56, 1.42); NMSC 0.74 (0.43, 1.21); deep vein thrombosis 0.05 (0.00, 0.25); pulmonary embolism 0.18 (0.05, 0.47) (Table). At Month 36 (NRI-LOCF), 58.9% (n = 103) and 33.5% (n = 257) were in remission, 64.6% (n = 113) and 37.0% (n = 284) had mucosal healing (Mayo endoscopic subscore of 0 or 1) [b] and 66.9% (n = 117) and 40.2% (n = 309) showed clinical response, in the 5 and 10 mg BID groups, respectively. Conclusion Incidence of AEs remained generally consistent in patients with moderate to severe UC in the OLE study compared with a previous analysis.2 Data continue to support long-term efficacy with tofacitinib up to 36 months beyond Week 52 of OCTAVE Sustain. References

Background Tofacitinib is an oral, small-molecule JAK inhibitor for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). Safety and efficacy of tofacitinib were evaluated in two Phase 3 induction studies (OCTAVE Induction 1 and 2; NCT01465763, NCT01458951), a 52-week, Phase 3 maintenance study (OCTAVE Sustain, NCT01458574) and an ongoing, open-label, long-term extension study (NCT01470612).1,2 Here, we assess time to treatment failure among patients in remission at the end of OCTAVE Induction 1 and 2 who enrolled in OCTAVE Sustain. Methods In OCTAVE Induction 1 and 2, patients received placebo or tofacitinib 10 mg twice daily (BID) for 8 weeks; clinical responders were re-randomised to placebo, tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg BID in OCTAVE Sustain for 52 weeks. Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate median time to treatment failure (withdrawal due to insufficient clinical response) in patients who received 10 mg BID in induction studies and entered OCTAVE Sustain in remission (total Mayo score ≤2 with no subscore >1, and rectal bleeding subscore [RB] 0). Treatment failure: ≥3-point increase from baseline total Mayo score, plus ≥1-point increase in RB and endoscopic subscore (ES; centrally read) and absolute ES ≥2 after ≥8 weeks of maintenance therapy. Results Following induction, 156 patients in remission entered OCTAVE Sustain and received tofacitinib 5 mg BID (N = 57) or 10 mg BID (N = 50), or placebo (N = 49). Estimated treatment failure rates are reported in the table. At Week 52, Kaplan–Meier rates of treatment failure were higher in patients who switched to placebo (81.8% [95% confidence interval 67.0, 90.4]) vs. those who continued to receive tofacitinib 10 mg BID (25.6% [14.2, 38.6]) or reduced their dose to 5 mg BID (34.4% [21.8, 47.3]). Median time to treatment failure was 169 days for placebo and >52 weeks for tofacitinib 5 and 10 mg BID (due to the low number of treatment failure events, exact median time to treatment failure was not available for tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg BID). Conclusion For patients in remission following 8 weeks of induction treatment with tofacitinib 10 mg BID, median time to treatment failure for those who continued tofacitinib treatment (5 or 10 mg BID) was >52 weeks. After treatment interruption (remission patients who were re-randomised to placebo), median time to treatment failure was 169 days; this was similar to previously published time-to-treatment-failure data for patients with clinical response (including remission) following 8 weeks of induction treatment with tofacitinib who were re-randomised to placebo.3. References

In a consortium including 23 637 breast cancer patients and 25 579 controls of East Asian ancestry, we investigated 70 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 67 independent breast cancer susceptibility loci recently identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) conducted primarily in European-ancestry populations. SNPs in 31 loci showed an association with breast cancer risk at P < 0.05 in a direction consistent with that reported previously. Twenty-one of them remained statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons with the Bonferroni-corrected significance level of, published_or_final_version

Objective. Methylnaltrexone, a selective peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist, effectively treats opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients with advanced illness and shows efficacy in patients with chronic nonmalignant pain. The objective was to identify patients who achieved maximal treatment effect based on response to initial four methylnaltrexone doses. Design. A post hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating patients with OIC and chronic nonmalignant pain who received 12 mg subcutaneous methylnaltrexone daily for 4 weeks was performed to determine if response to the first four methylnaltrexone doses predicted overall response during the study. Patients receiving ≥8 doses were included. Outcome Measures. Patients having ≥3 rescue-free bowel movements (RFBMs)/week; change from baseline in RFBMs/week; percentage of doses with RFBMs within 4 hours after dosing. Results. Of 137 patients, 58 patients (42.3%) had RFBMs after ≥2 of four doses. Among those with response to ≥2 of four doses, 81% had ≥3 RFBMs/week vs 43% for those with response to

68% had inflammatory (B1) disease behavior; 30% had prior resections. Over 7 years, 117 pts completed, while 478 discontinued (36% due to AEs; 28% due to pt decision; 17% due to no improvement/disease deterioration). Discontinuation rates were 29.2%, 13.6%, 16.1%, 7.9%, 5.0%, 4.5% and 3.9% during years 1 7, respectively. Over 71% of pts were exposed to CZP for >1 year; the average number of CZP injections was 41. No new safety signals were identified during this study. The most common AE was CD exacerbation (30%); most common OI was herpes simplex (3.4%). The observed annual remission rates ranged from 68% 76% (Year 1 to 7, table). The remission rates analyzed by LOCF and NRI methods were 58% and 45% at year 1, 56% and 26% at year 3 and 55% and 13% at year 7, respectively. FC levels had no trends toward change; CRP levels were relatively stable. The geometric mean CZP plasma concentrations ranged from 6 10 ug/mL up to year 6; CZP concentrations were typically lower in pts who were anti-CZP antibody positive vs. negative throughout the study (e.g. 3μg/ml vs. 9μg/ml at Wk 54, 3μg/ml vs. 10μg/ml at Wk 210, respectively). Conclusions: The P3 study demonstrates that the long-term safety of CZP is consistent with short-term studies.[1, 2] Additionally, the observed rates of clinical remission were sustainable for 7 years. PRECiSE3 Remission Rates Over 7 Years, observed cases