Thiopurines: Use them or lose them? International survey on current and future use of thiopurines in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The role of thiopurines in therapeutic algorithms of Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC) is being questioned. This work aimed to investigate current practice and future perspectives of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) physicians regarding the efficacy, safety, and role of precision medicine with thiopurines in IBD.

METHODS

A 29-questions web-based survey was developed and distributed to IBD physicians worldwide.

RESULTS

We collected the complete answers of 408 physicians from 50 countries. Most participants were experienced physicians in IBD; 26.0% met our definition of "IBD expert". Four physicians reported to not use thiopurines in clinical practice. Most respondents used thiopurines in monotherapy and in combination therapy, both in CD and UC. Respondents tended to consider thiopurines as drugs with a good safety profile, with the agreement of 61.5% of the overall cohort. A minority of physicians (~6%) considered that thiopurines will not be used in the future in IBD patients, while 57.8% believed that these drugs will still be used, in mono and combination therapy.

CONCLUSION

Despite the many emerging treatments in IBD, according to the beliefs of most physicians surveyed, thiopurines will still be an important part of the treatment algorithm of both CD and UC.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflict of interest statement P.S. and M.L.H report no conflicts of interest. P.M. is a consultant for Abbvie, Ferring, Hospira, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Takeda. A.A. received consulting and/or advisory board fees from AbbVie, Allergan, Amgen, Arena, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Celltrion, Eli-Lilly, Ferring, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Mylan, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sandoz and Takeda; lecture and/or speaker bureau fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ferring, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Samsung Bioepis, Takeda and Tigenix; and research grants from MSD, Pfizer and Takeda. A.D. has received research support or acted as a principal investigator for Abbvie, Dr. Falk Pharma, Celgene, Gilead, Janssen and Takeda; has acted as a consultant for AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Dr Falk Pharma, Ferring, Fresenius Kabi, Celltrion, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, Tillotts, Galapagos, Gilead, Pharmacosmos and Vifor; and has participated in speaker bureaus for AbbVie, Falk Foundation, Ferring, Janssen, Med Update, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, Tillotts, and Vifor. M.B.A. has served as a speaker, consultant and advisory member for or has received research funding from MSD, AbbVie, Janssen, Kern Pharma, Celltrion, Takeda, Gillead, Celgene, Pfizer, Sandoz, Biogen, Fresenius, Ferring, Faes Farma, Dr. Falk Pharma, Chiesi, Gebro Pharma, Adacyte and Vifor Pharma. S.V. received consultant fees and unrestricted research grants from Abbott, Celtrion, Ferring, MSD, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda, Tillots, UCB, Vifor and Falk Pharma. R.S.H. has received speaker fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Pfizer and Takeda. P.G.K has served as speaker and consultant for Abbvie, Janssen, Takeda, Pfizer, Novartis, and has received scientific grants from Takeda and Pfizer. L.P.-B. reports personal fees from Merck, Abbvie, Janssen, Ferring, Tillots, Celltrion, Takeda, Pfizer, Amgen, Biogen, Samsung Bioepis, Genentech, Vifor, Pharmacosmos, Biogaran, Boerhinger-Ingelheim, Lilly, Index Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, Celgene, Alma, Sterna, Nestlé and Enterome. F.M. has served as a speaker and received honoraria from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Abbvie, Vifor, Falk, Laboratorios Vitoria, Ferring, Hospira, and Biogen.