The American Gastroenterological Association has released updated guidelines for treating moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis.
New guidelines group the 12 available advanced treatments based on efficacy to help simplify decision-making processes for gastroenterologists, according to a Nov. 15 press release.
The AGA has categorized drugs with similar efficacy into "efficacy buckets," allowing clinicians to break down effective treatments based on the likelihood of inducing remission.
Treatment recommendations include:
1. For patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis, start with advanced therapies and/or immunomodulators, rather than a step-up approach.
2. For patients who have not previously received advanced therapies, the medications with the highest efficacy include infliximab, vedolizumab, ozanimod, etrasimod, upadacitinib, risankizumab and guselkumab.
3. For patients with prior exposure to advanced therapies, the medications with the highest efficacy include tofacitinib, upadacitinib and ustekinumab.