Positive results from Crohn's treatment study

A clinical trial looking at the treatment of Crohn's disease using a new management technique has released positive final results. The Randomised Evaluation of Algorithm for Crohn's Treatment (REACT) trial involved almost 2,000 patients that were treated with the new strategy, known as accelerated step-care to provide relief from active Crohn's disease.

Results from the study, which was led by Robarts Clinical Trials at Western University, Canada, were presented at the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) annual congress. 

Crohn's disease affects around five million across the globe, causing a range of symptoms; including abdominal pain, weight loss, vomiting and diarrhoea. It is a chronic condition of the gastrointestinal tract that can be incredibly debilitating.

The REACT trial used a combined immunosuppression in patients that were classed as high risk. This treatment has been found to put patients into a maintained state of remission, repair intestinal ulceration and reduce the use corticosteroids within patients that did not respond to conventional treatment methods.

The current approach for the treatment of Crohn's has seen some developments and makes use of incremental and sequential treatment that is intensified based upon patient symptoms.

Dr Brian Feagan, chief executive and senior scientific director of Robarts Clinical Trials and professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at Western's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, said that despite recent improvements in the treatment of Crohn's disease, many key concepts have not been adopted by gastroenterologists.

"This is primarily because many believe that the safety and efficacy of these agents may not be generalisable to their individual practice, since they were tested in academic centres. The REACT study was designed to address these concerns," he said.

The REACT trial included 39 gastroenterology practices throughout Belgium or Canada, which were assigned with either the conventional management programme of the new accelerated step-care algorithm. Patients were evaluated for 24 months to see whether the new treatment resulted in improved management of Crohn's when compared to conventional method.