P348 Clinical outcomes and response predictors of vedolizumab treatment for anti-TNF-failed patients with IBD in Korea: A prospective multicenter cohort study

Abstract

Abstract Background Vedolizumab (VDZ) inhibits gut lymphocyte trafficking by binding to α4β7 integrin, which can be effective for patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). We aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes and response predictors of VDZ treatment for Korean patients with CD or UC, who were previously failed to anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. Methods Between August 2017 and November 2019, a total of 159 patients with CD (n = 81) or UC (n = 78) received a VDZ induction therapy from 16 centres and were prospectively enrolled. Of those, patients who were evaluated at week 14 after three induction doses of VDZ (week 0, 2, and 6) were analysed. The co-primary endpoints were corticosteroid-free clinical remission and endoscopic remission/response (for UC) at week 14. We also analysed predictors of corticosteroid-free clinical remission, persistence of vedolizumab and safety. Results A total of 153 patients were analysed (CD, 77 [50.3%]; male, 94 [61.4%]; median age, 40 years [range, 17–80]; median disease duration, 8.0 years [range, 0.1–38.0]). All patients had previously experienced failures to at least one anti-TNF agent (one, 105 [68.6%]; two, 44 [28.8%]; three, 4 [2.6%]). Corticosteroid-free clinical remission/response rates in CD and UC patients were 44.6%/51.8% and 39.4%/62.0%, respectively. In patients with UC, endoscopic remission and response rates defined by Mayo endoscopic subscore/ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity were 33.8%/14.1% and 55.4%/39.1%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that a clinical response at week 6 were associated with a corticosteroid-free clinical remission at week 14 in both CD (Odds ratio [OR] 33.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.25–183.31, p < 0.001) and UC (OR 12.22, 95% CI 1.30–115.28, p = 0.029). In addition, UC patients with higher baseline levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and faecal calprotectin were less likely to be in corticosteroid-free clinical remission (CRP > 0.31 mg/dl: OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.00–0.60, p = 0.019; faecal calprotectin > 2,000 μg/g: OR 0.04, 95% CI 0.00–0.93, p = 0.045). The cumulative probabilities of continuing VDZ after one year were 48.7% for CD and 65.7% for UC, respectively. During median 10 months of follow-up periods (range, 3–26 months), disease exacerbation was the most common adverse event (n = 73, 47.7%), followed by nasopharyngitis (n = 23, 15.0%) and arthralgia (n = 19, 12.4%). Conclusion In anti-TNF-failed Korean patients with CD and UC, VDZ induction therapy was effective with an acceptable safety profile. Early clinical response and higher inflammatory burden at baseline were associated with corticosteroid-free clinical remission after VDZ induction therapy.