Key clinical point: Tofacitinib appears to be a promising treatment option as rescue therapy in patients hospitalized for a severe flare of refractory ulcerative colitis (UC).
Major finding: Overall, 27.3% of patients underwent colectomy during a median follow-up duration of 6.5 months. The estimated colectomy-free survival at 3 and 6 months was 78.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 68.5%-90.9%) and 73.6% (95% CI, 61.9%-87.3%), respectively. At week 14, rates of clinical response, clinical remission, and steroid-free clinical remission were 41.8%, 34.5%, and 32.7%, respectively. No deaths were reported; however, 3 patients discontinued tofacitinib because of adverse events .
Study details: Findings are from an observational cohort study of 55 patients who received tofacitinib as rescue therapy for a flare of UC that required hospitalization.
Disclosures: No source of funding was declared. Some of the authors declared receiving personal interests like counseling, boards, transports, or fees from various sources.
Source: Uzzan M et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2021 Jun 20. doi: 10.1111/apt.16463 .
