Safety and Effectiveness of Ustekinumab for Crohn’s Disease With Perianal Manifestations: Ad hoc Analysis Data From 1-Year Post-Marketing Surveillance Study in Japan

TL;DR

This study shows that ustekinumab is safe and effective for treating Crohn’s disease, including cases with perianal symptoms, in Japanese patients.

Contribution

The study provides real-world evidence on ustekinumab’s effectiveness for Crohn’s disease with perianal manifestations in Japan.

Findings

UST showed similar safety profiles in patients with and without perianal manifestations.

UST improved clinical remission rates and reduced CDAI scores in patients with perianal disease.

Perianal manifestations decreased in both biologics-naïve and previously treated patients after UST.

Abstract

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract with perianal disease being one of the challenging possible manifestations. Here, we report, an ad hoc analysis of the safety and effectiveness of 1-year use of ustekinumab (UST) for CD in patients with perianal manifestations using post-marketing surveillance (PMS) data in Japan.

Among 341 patients enrolled in the PMS, 229 and 224 patients who had baseline Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI) data used for evaluating perianal manifestations were included in the safety and efficacy analysis sets, respectively. Incidence of adverse drug reactions, clinical remission, the mean or its change in CDAI scores, and CDAI items were evaluated through week 52 in the presence or absence of perianal manifestations at baseline. The prevalence of perianal manifestations was also described.

Comparing patients with and without baseline perianal manifestations at week 52, there was no difference in ADR incidence (9.1% [n = 66] vs. 15.3% [n = 163]), no difference in clinical remission (68.3% vs. 59.9%; P = 0.269), and decreased mean change of CDAI score (−82.9 [n = 60] vs. −68.8 [n = 137]). The proportion of patients with perianal manifestations decreased after UST treatment in both biologics-naïve patients (23.5% [n = 4/17]) and patients who had received biologics (35.0% [n = 14/40]) at week 52.

In Japanese clinical practice, UST is safe and effective in CD patients with and without perianal manifestations. The therapy might be also beneficial in those with manifestations regardless of prior use of other biologics.

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