ECCO 2021 Highlights Podcast

 

In this podcast, Medicom’s correspondent covers 4 presentations held at the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO 2021), held virtually July 2-3 & 8-10, 2021. The topics discussed are:

Biologics Updates: Ustekinumab and adalimumab both showed high efficacy in biologic-naïve patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease (CD). No significant difference in clinical remission rate was observed between the two therapies at 52 weeks of follow-up. The multicentre, randomised, blinded SEAVUE study was the first trial comparing these two biologics head-to-head in a population of CD patients.

Improvements in Small Molecules: Induction of upadacitinib treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC) led to higher clinical remission rates than placebo after 8 weeks. Moreover, all ranked secondary endpoints of the phase 3 U-ACCOMPLISH trial were met. The treatment was well tolerated and no new safety issues with upadacitinib were observed.

Novel Biomarkers: In the development of biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), liquid biopsies showed promising results in a Belgian pilot study. The presence of unique extracellular RNAs accurately distinguished Crohn’s disease (CD) from ulcerative colitis (UC). Future larger studies should examine the potential of this novel non-invasive tool in-depth.

Risk Mitigation: Low-pass whole genome sequencing was able to stratify the risk of colorectal cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) undergoing endoscopic surveillance. This result indicates that patients at risk could be selected early, by detecting cancer-related DNA changes prior to neoplastic formation. Moreover, this novel technique is robust and cost-effective.

 



Posted on 10 August 202127 June 2024