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Summary: Background: Phase III trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in ulcerative colitis (UC), but few real‐life long‐term data are currently available. Aims: To assess the real‐world effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab in patients with UC. Methods: From January to September 2019, all consecutive patients with active UC treated with ustekinumab in a GETAID centre were included. Patients were evaluated at week 52. Remission was defined as a partial Mayo Clinic score ≤2. Results: We included 103 patients with UC (62 men; mean age: 41.2 ± 16.2 years; 52% pancolitis E3) with an insufficient response to immunosuppressants, anti‐TNFs and/or vedolizumab. At week 52, 45 (44%) patients had discontinued ustekinumab mainly due to lack of effectiveness (n = 41). The cumulative probabilities of ustekinumab persistence were 96.1%, 81.6%, 71.7% and 58.4% after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months respectively. The overall steroid‐free clinical remission rate at week 52 was 32% of whom 71% had subscores of null for rectal bleeding and stool frequency. Ten patients underwent colectomy within a median of 6.7 [4.3‐10.6] months. Adverse effects were observed in 15 (16.9%) patients; 4 (4.5%) were severe, including one patient who died from a myocardial infarction. Conclusion: After 52 weeks, over one‐half of patients with refractory UC were still treated by ustekinumab and one‐third were in steroid‐free clinical remission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The treatment of perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease remains challenging. Fibrin glue injection has previously shown short‐term efficacy in a randomized controlled trial. No long‐term data are available to assess the benefit of this treatment. Methods: This retrospective multicentre study included all patients with drained fistulas treated by at least one fibrin glue injection between January 2004 and June 2015 in three tertiary French centres. The primary end‐point was the rate of complete clinical remission at 1 year after injection defined by the closure of all fistula tracts with no need for iterative anal surgery or for optimization of immunosuppressants and/or biologics. Results: In all, 119 patients (median age 33 years, complex fistulas 65%, median previous anal surgery two, median Harvey Bradshaw score 3, immunosuppressants exposure 50%, anti‐tumor necrosis factor exposure 60% with median time of administration of 1.1 year) were analysed with a median follow‐up of 18.3 months. The complete clinical remission rate at 1 year was 45.4%. The primary end‐point was achieved in 63% of the cases in the combination therapy group and 37% in other patients. The only predictor of complete clinical remission at 1 year was combination therapy at the time of injection (P = 0.01). The rate of early reintervention after glue injection was 2.5%. The cumulative incidence of iterative anal surgery and ostomy in the whole population was 54% and 5.6% respectively at 5 years. Conclusion: An adjunct of fibrin glue to conventional medical therapy may be an effective and safe treatment for perianal fistulas in patients with Crohn's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is a rare tumour. Large genomic analyses with prognostic assessments are lacking. The NADEGE cohort has enrolled 347 patients with all stage SBA from 2009 to 2012. Next‐generation sequencing investigates the presence of 740 hotspot somatic mutations in a panel of 46 genes involved in carcinogenesis. The mismatch repair (MMR) status was assessed by immunochemistry. We have collected 196 tumour samples and 125 had conclusive results for mutation analysis. The number of mutations was 0 in 9.6% of tumours, only 1 in 32.0%, 2 in 26.4% and ≥3 in 32.0%. Overall, at least one genomic alteration was observed in 90.4% of tumour. The most frequent genomic alteration was in KRAS (44.0%), TP53 (38.4%), PIK3CA (20.0%), APC (18.4%), SMAD4 (14.4%) and ERBB2 (7.2%) genes. KRAS mutations were more frequent in synchronous metastatic tumours than in localised tumours (72.7% vs 38.2%, P =.003). There was no significant difference in the mutation rates according to primary location for the most frequently altered gene. ATM, FGFR3 and FGFR1 gene alterations were associated with Lynch syndrome and IDH1 mutations with Crohn disease. dMMR tumours were associated with younger age, localised tumours, less KRAS but more SMARCB1 mutations. No genomic alteration was associated with overall survival. There is a trend for better survival in patient with dMMR tumours. In conclusion, there is a different genomic alteration profile in SBA according to predisposing diseases. No association between genomic alterations and prognoses was observed except for a trend of better prognoses associated with dMMR. What's new? Because small bowel adenocarcinomas (SBAs) are quite rare, genomic analyses and prognostic biomarkers are lacking. In this study, the authors found at least one genomic alteration in 90.4% of SBAs. The most frequent alterations occurred at KRAS, TP53, PIK3CA, APC, SMAD4 and ERBB2. Additional alterations were specific to SBAs from patients with Lynch syndrome, while IDH1 mutations were associated with Crohn disease. No association was found between SBA prognosis and specific genomic alterations, except for a trend toward better prognosis with tumors deficient in mismatch repair (dMMR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is a rare tumour. We conducted a prospective cohort to describe the prevalence, survival and prognostic factors in unselected SBA patients. The study enrolled patients with all stages of newly diagnosed or recurrent SBA at 74 French centres between January 2009 and December 2012. In total, 347 patients were analysed; the median age was 63 years (range 23–90). The primary tumour was in the duodenum (60.6%), jejunum (20.7%) and ileum (18.7%). The prevalence of predisposing disease was 8.7%, 6.9%, 1.7%, 1.7% and 0.6% for Crohn disease, Lynch syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis, celiac disease and Peutz‐Jeghers syndrome, respectively. At diagnosis, 58.9%, 5.5% and 35.6% of patients had localised and resectable, locally advanced unresectable and metastatic disease, respectively. Crohn disease was significantly associated with younger age, poor differentiation and ileum location, whereas Lynch syndrome with younger age, poor differentiation, early stage and duodenum location. Adjuvant chemotherapy (oxaliplatin‐based in 89.9%) was performed in 61.5% of patients with locally resected tumours. With a 54‐months median follow‐up, the 5‐year overall survival (OS) was 87.9%, 78.2% and 55.5% in Stages I, II and III, respectively. The median OS of patients with Stage IV was 12.7 months. In patients with resected tumours, poor differentiation (p = 0.047) and T4 stage (p = 0.001) were associated with a higher risk of death. In conclusion, our study showed that the prognosis of advanced SBA remains poor. Tumour characteristics differed according to predisposing disease. In SBA‐resected tumours, the prognostic factors for OS were grade and T stage. What's new? Small bowel adenocarcinoma is a rare disease but incidences are increasing in Europe and the US because of increases in duodenal cancers. This study from France found that Crohn's disease and Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition associated with colorectal cancers, combined with younger age and poor differentiation predisposed for the disease. The authors also linked poor differentiation and advanced tumor staging with short overall survival in patients with locally resected tumors, underscoring that the prognosis for advanced adenocarcinomas remains poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: The long‐term outcome of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) responding to intravenous steroids (IVS) has been poorly reported. Aims: To assess relapse‐free survival in patients with ASUC responding to IVS. Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2017, 142 consecutive patients with ASUC (according to modified Truelove‐and‐Witts criteria) responding to IVS were included in this multicentre retrospective study. Relapse was defined by a partial Mayo Clinic score >4 and/or the need for another maintenance therapy. Results: Among the 142 included patients (100 naïve of immunomodulator and/or biological agent) hospitalised for ASUC, 59 (41.5%) were treated at discharge with 5‐aminosalicylic acid, 60 (42%) with immunomodulators, 18 (13%) with anti‐tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents and 5 (3.5%) with vedolizumab. After a median follow‐up of 4.8 (2.6‐7.3) years, 90 (63.4%) had relapsed and 12 (8.5%) had required colectomy. The probabilities of relapse‐free survival were 58%, 48% and 40% at 1, 2 and 5 years respectively. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that patients with <6 liquid stools per day at day 3 (hazard ratio 0.56, 95%CI [0.34‐0.91]), a partial Mayo Clinic score <2 at day 5 (0.41 [0.21‐0.80]) and anti‐TNF maintenance therapy (0.37 [0.16‐0.87]) were less likely to relapse. The probabilities of colectomy‐free survival were 96%, 95% and 91% at 1, 2 and 5 years respectively. Conclusion: Despite a high relapse rate, patients with ASUC responding to IVS had a low rate of colectomy after 5 years of follow‐up. Early response to IVS and maintenance therapy with biological agents were associated with a lower rate of relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Phase III trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in moderate‐to‐severe ulcerative colitis (UC), but few real‐world data are currently available. Aim: To assess short‐term effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab in patients with UC. Methods: From January to September 2019, all patients with UC treated with ustekinumab in 20 French GETAID centres were retrospectively included. The primary outcome was steroid‐free clinical remission (partial Mayo Clinic score ≤2) at weeks 12‐16 without a rectal bleeding subscore >1. Results: Among the 103 patients included, 70% had been previously exposed to ≥2 anti‐TNF agents and 85% to vedolizumab. At weeks 12‐16, steroid‐free clinical remission and clinical remission rates were 35.0% and 39.8% respectively; the absence of rectal bleeding with normal stool frequency was noted in 19.4% of patients. Two patients discontinued ustekinumab before the week 12‐16 visit and underwent surgery. In multivariable analysis, a partial Mayo Clinic score >6 at inclusion (18.6% vs 46.7%, P = 0.003) and a history of both exposure to anti‐TNF and vedolizumab therapies (27.3% vs 80.0%, P = 0.001) were negatively associated with steroid‐free clinical remission at weeks 12‐16. Adverse events occurred in 7.8% of patients and serious adverse events in 3.9% of patients. Conclusion: In a cohort of highly refractory patients with UC with multiple prior drug failures, ustekinumab provided steroid‐free clinical remission in one‐third of cases at weeks 12‐16. Clinical severity and previous use of anti‐TNF and vedolizumab therapies were associated with ustekinumab failure at weeks 12‐16. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Cohort studies have described the short‐term effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab in treating patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), but data beyond 1 year are lacking. Aim: To assess the effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab after 162 weeks in patients with UC and CD. Methods: Between June and December 2014, 294 patients including 173 patients with CD and 121 with UC were treated with vedolizumab induction therapy. Among them, 149 continued to be treated with vedolizumab beyond week 54 (78 patients with CD and 71 with UC). Disease activity was assessed using the Harvey‐Bradshaw Index for CD and the partial Mayo Clinic score for UC. The primary outcome was steroid‐free clinical remission at week 162, computed for the whole population included at week 0. Results: Steroid‐free clinical remission rates at week 162 were 19.9% and 36.1% in patients with CD and UC respectively. Vedolizumab dose optimisation to 300 mg every 4 weeks instead of 300 mg every 8 weeks was at investigator's discretion and occurred in 58.7% and 52.1% of patients with CD and UC respectively. The 1‐, 2‐ and 3‐year persistence rates of vedolizumab were 48.5%, 31.4% and 26.3% respectively, in patients with CD and 61.0%, 49.9% and 42.9% respectively, in patients with UC. No new safety signal was identified. Conclusion: Vedolizumab is able to maintain steroid‐free clinical remission in patients with UC and CD up to week 162. Loss of response resulting in discontinuation of vedolizumab occurred in 10% of patients per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: After ileocaecal resection for Crohn's disease (CD), inflammatory lesions frequently recur on the anastomosis and/or on the neo‐terminal ileum. Aim: To identify predictors of early post‐operative endoscopic recurrence. Methods: From September 2010 to September 2017, the REMIND group conducted a prospective nationwide study in nine French academic centres. Data were collected at the time of surgery and endoscopy, performed 6‐12 months after surgery. Endoscopic recurrence was defined as a Rutgeerts score ≥i2. Baseline factors associated with endoscopic recurrence were searched by univariate and multivariate regression analysis. Results: Two hundred and eighty‐nine CD patients were included. Endoscopy within 1 year following surgery was performed in 225 (78%) patients (104M/121F). Mean age and disease duration were 35 (12.2) and 8.8 (8.9) years respectively. Seventy (32%) patients were active smokers at surgery. One hundred and forty‐two (63%) patients received at least one anti‐TNF therapy before surgery. After surgery, 40 (18%) patients received thiopurines and 66 (29%) received an anti‐TNF agent. Endoscopic recurrence occurred in 107 (47%) patients. In multivariate analysis, male gender (OR = 2.48 [IC 95% 1.40‐4.46]), active smoking at surgery (OR = 2.65 [IC 95% 1.44‐4.97]) and previous resection (OR = 3.03 [IC 95% 1.36‐7.12]) were associated with a higher risk of endoscopic recurrence. Inversely, post‐operative anti‐TNF treatment decreased the risk of endoscopic recurrence (OR = 0.50 [IC 95% 0.25‐0.96]). Conclusions: Male gender, active smoking at surgery and previous intestinal resection are associated with a higher risk of endoscopic post‐operative recurrence, while post‐operative anti‐TNF treatment is associated with a lower risk. Linked Content This article is linked to Yamamoto and Kotze, and Imperatore et al papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14985 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14989. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Genital fistulas represent a devastating complication of Crohn's disease. Only studies with small sample sizes have evaluated the efficacy of anti‐TNF therapy for this complication. Aims: To assess the efficacy of anti‐TNF therapy for genital fistulas complicating Crohn's disease and to identify predictive factors associated with clinical response at 1 year. Methods: Consecutive patients treated with anti‐TNF therapy for genital fistulas complicating Crohn's disease from 1999 to 2016 in 19 French centres from the Groupe d'Etude Thérapeutique des Affections Inflammatoires du tube Digestif were included in a retrospective cohort study. Outcome was clinical fistula closure at 1 year. Results: Among the 204 women with genital fistulas who received anti‐TNF therapy, 131 were analysed. The first anti‐TNF given was infliximab (79%), adalimumab (20%), or certolizumab (1%). At start of anti‐TNF therapy, 56% of patients had seton drainage and 53% had concomitant immunosuppressive treatment. A complementary surgery was performed during the first year in 10 patients (8%). At 1 year, 37% of patients had complete clinical fistula closure, 22% had a partial response, and 41% had no response. Among patients without complementary surgery, 34% (41/121) had complete clinical fistula closure. Only complementary surgery was associated with better response on multivariate analysis (adjusted relative risk: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.25‐3.26, P = 0.0043). Conclusions: In the anti‐TNF era, approximately one‐third of patients with genital fistula in Crohn's disease had complete fistula closure at 1 year. Collaboration between surgeons and gastroenterologists appears to be very important to improve the rate of fistula closure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Whether healthcare workers with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of severe infection due to daily pathogen exposure is controversial. Aim: To assess the risk of severe infection in healthcare workers with IBD in a large multicentre case‐control study. Methods: The study population comprised 482 healthcare workers with IBD from 17 centres who were matched for gender, age, disease subtype and year of diagnosis to 482 controls (non‐healthcare workers with IBD). The study period was between the date of diagnosis of IBD and June 2016. Severe infection was defined as any community‐acquired infection that required hospitalisation. Results: With a median follow‐up of 9.3 years, 139 severe infections were recorded among cases and controls, including 30 Clostridium difficile infections, 33 severe viral infections, nine tuberculosis infections, 21 community‐acquired pneumonia and 46 others. No difference was observed between healthcare workers and controls regarding the overall incidence rates of severe infection. An increased risk of tuberculosis was noted in healthcare workers. In multivariate analysis in the entire study population, severe infection was associated with current exposure to corticosteroids (OR = 3.05, 95% CI [2.06‐4.52], P < 0.001), immunosuppressants (OR = 1.98, 95% CI [1.38‐2.84], P < 0.001) and anti‐TNF agents (OR = 2.93, 95% CI [2.02‐4.27], P < 0.001) and reduced with Crohn's disease (OR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.43‐0.91], P = 0.01). Conclusions: Healthcare workers with IBD do not have an increased risk of severe infection compared with other patients with IBD, except for tuberculosis. Screening for tuberculosis exposure should be assessed in this high‐risk population when treated with anti‐TNF agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the efficacy and tolerability of second-line chemotherapy with fluorouacil, leucovorin and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) regimen in patients with advanced small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA). It notes that the patients involved in the study are those whose first-line platinum-based chemotherapy failed. Results show that the disease of half of the patients has been controlled after the second-line treatment. Consideration of other treatments is recommended as such chemotherapy only delivers median progression-free survival (PFS).

Background: Abdominal or pelvic radiotherapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients raises concerns regarding the risk of worsening of underlying disease., Aim: To assess the impact of radiotherapy on IBD course., Methods: A retrospective multicentre study including IBD patients exposed to abdominal or pelvic irradiation was conducted, retrieving IBD activity by semester (6-month periods) before (from S-4 to S-1) and after (from S + 1 to S + 6) radiotherapy and IBD flare during follow-up., Results: Sixty-one patients (32 women, mean age 59 years), with 467 patient semesters of follow-up, treated for digestive (n = 31), urinary tract (n = 23) and gynaecological cancers (n = 7) were included. Rates of IBD activity per semester were, respectively, 21% (95% CI: 16-27) from S-4 to S-1; 12% (7-19) from S + 1 to S + 3 (P = 0.15 vs S-4 to S-1) and 16% (10-25) from S + 4 to S + 6 (P = 0.45 vs S-4 to S-1). With a median follow-up of 156 weeks (interquartile range: 82-365), rates of survival without IBD flare at 1 and 3 years after radiotherapy were 82.5% (73.2-93.0) and 70.6% (58.8-84.7). Moderate-to-severe acute radiotherapy-induced gut toxicity and the absence of concomitant chemotherapy were independently associated with an increased risk of flare., Conclusion: Most patients with non-active IBD can be safely treated with abdominal or pelvic radiotherapy. Patients having acute gut toxicity and those without concomitant chemotherapy should be more closely monitored in the post-radiotherapy period., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Whether healthcare workers with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of severe infection due to daily pathogen exposure is controversial., Aim: To assess the risk of severe infection in healthcare workers with IBD in a large multicentre case-control study., Methods: The study population comprised 482 healthcare workers with IBD from 17 centres who were matched for gender, age, disease subtype and year of diagnosis to 482 controls (non-healthcare workers with IBD). The study period was between the date of diagnosis of IBD and June 2016. Severe infection was defined as any community-acquired infection that required hospitalisation., Results: With a median follow-up of 9.3 years, 139 severe infections were recorded among cases and controls, including 30 Clostridium difficile infections, 33 severe viral infections, nine tuberculosis infections, 21 community-acquired pneumonia and 46 others. No difference was observed between healthcare workers and controls regarding the overall incidence rates of severe infection. An increased risk of tuberculosis was noted in healthcare workers. In multivariate analysis in the entire study population, severe infection was associated with current exposure to corticosteroids (OR = 3.05, 95% CI [2.06-4.52], P < 0.001), immunosuppressants (OR = 1.98, 95% CI [1.38-2.84], P < 0.001) and anti-TNF agents (OR = 2.93, 95% CI [2.02-4.27], P < 0.001) and reduced with Crohn's disease (OR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.43-0.91], P = 0.01)., Conclusions: Healthcare workers with IBD do not have an increased risk of severe infection compared with other patients with IBD, except for tuberculosis. Screening for tuberculosis exposure should be assessed in this high-risk population when treated with anti-TNF agents., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)