Early remission status predicts long-term outcomes in patients with Crohn's disease treated with certolizumab pegol.

AbstractBackground: In Crohn’s disease (CD), rapid response to anti–tumor necrosis factor therapy improves short- and medium-term outcomes, but the relationship between early remission (ER) and long-term remission is unclear.Aims: This exploratory analysis of PRECiSE 3 (NCT00160524) assessed whether ER after initiation of certolizumab pegol predicted long-term remission.Methods: Patients enrolled in PRECiSE 3 had completed PRECiSE 1 or 2, two randomized placebo-controlled studies for moderate to severe CD, and received open-label certolizumab pegol 400 mg every 4 weeks for a total treatment duration of ≤7.5 years. Time to loss of remission between patients with and without ER (Harvey–Bradshaw Index ≤4 at or before Week 6 of PRECiSE 1 or 2) was compared by log-rank test of Kaplan–Meier estimates.Results: At baseline, patients with (n = 242) and without (n = 148) ER had mean (standard deviation [SD]) durations of CD of 6.8 (6.6) and 7.4 (7.8) years, mean (SD) CD Activity Index scores of 280.3 (53.4) and 311...