Tofacitinib real-world experience in ulcerative colitis in Finland (FinTofUC): a retrospective non-interventional multicenter patient chart data study

Objectives: The aim was to define the effectiveness of tofacitinib and to characterize the patient population receiving tofacitinib in a real-world cohort clinical setting for ulcerative colitis (UC) in Finland. Methods: This is a retrospective non-interventional multicenter patient chart data study conducted in 23 Finnish Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) centers. Baseline demographic and clinical data, clinical remission, steroid-free remission rate and time to tofacitinib discontinuation, colectomy or UC-related hospitalization were studied. Results: The study included 252 UC patients of which 69% were male. Most patients had extensive disease (71%) and were bio-experienced (81%). Tofacitinib demonstrated positive treatment outcomes with clinical response, clinical remission, and steroid-free clinical remission at one year in 33%, 34% and 31% of patients, respectively. Moreover, 64% of patients in pMayo remission at week 16 from the start of tofacitinib were still in remission at one year. Only no or mild disease activity compared to moderate activity at baseline was associated with a higher probability of achieving remission according to pMayo at six months, p =.008. Hospitalizations and/or colectomies during the study period (before treatment discontinuation/end of follow-up) were low (n = 24), with less than 5 colectomies. Conclusions: In this real-world cohort, including a majority of bio-experienced UC patients, tofacitinib was effective in achieving steroid-free clinical remission in a third of the population at one year. A majority of patients in remission at week 16 were also in remission at one year. Results are in line with earlier published real-world studies. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05082428.