RESUMO
Biologic treatment withdrawal in inflammatory bowel disease patients with prolonged remission may lead to benefits but also increases the risk of getting a relapse. The risk of relapse after biologic withdrawal according to the Dutch STOP-criteria is still unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the cumulative incidence of relapse in inflammatory bowel disease patients that discontinued biologic therapy after applying the STOP-criteria with patients who maintained biologic therapy. We performed a mono-centre, observational, retrospective study by evaluating relapse risk of patients treated with biologic agents who discontinued this treatment according to the STOP-criteria (STOP-group) compared to patients who were in remission for more than 3 years before withdrawal (LATERSTOP-group) and patients who continued their biologic (MAINTAIN-group). The cumulative risk was calculated at 12 and 36 months using the log-rank test to compare Kaplan-Meier curves. Eighty-three of 398 patients that used biologics between 1 January 2010 and 1 January 2020 were included. The cumulative relapse incidences in the STOP-group and the LATERSTOP-group were, respectively, 29% and 42% at 12 months and 47% versus 58% at 36 months. Patients in the MAINTAIN-group showed a lower (p = 0.03) cumulative relapse incidence of 10% at 12 months and 18% at 36 months. Patients who discontinued their biologic therapy according to the STOP-criteria had significantly more relapses at 12 and 36 months than patients who maintained biologic treatment.
