Relapse rates after withdrawal versus maintaining biologic therapy in IBD patients with prolonged remission

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.