Immunotherapy withdrawal by step‐down to mesalamine in pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Parents and pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who progressed to systemic immunotherapy are concerned about lifelong risks from such treatments. There is limited knowledge about withdrawal of such agents and step‐down (SD) to enteral 5‐aminosalicylic acid (mesalamine) before transitioning to adult care.We studied nine pediatric cases with moderate to severe UC who after a median of 2.18 years of clinical remission on systemic immunotherapy stepped down to oral mesalamine treatment.Average follow‐up time from SD was 3.49 years. Five patients (55.5%) had sustained remission (without any flare noted) after SD during follow‐up. Sustained clinical remission was 88.9% (8/9) at 1 year, 87.5% (7/8) at 2 years, and 66.7% (4/6) at 3 years after SD. Out of those tested (one patient was not tested), 62.5% (5/8) had fecal calprotectin <50 μg/g. Four out of six patients examined (66.6%) had mucosal healing on post‐SD colonoscopy.We propose that SD to mesalamine can be a reasonable therapeutic consideration for pediatric patients with UC before transitioning to adult gastroenterology care. Shared decision‐making is important before such treatment changes.