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Evolving therapeutic goals in ulcerative colitis: towards disease clearance

In ulcerative colitis, treating beyond endoscopic healing has shown a reduction of relapse and hospitalization, pushing for histological remission to be embraced in clinical practice and clinical trials. Here, we propose the concept of disease clearance (symptomatic, endoscopic and histological remission) as the ultimate goal in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

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Fig. 1: Disease clearance in ulcerative colitis.

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Correspondence to Silvio Danese.

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S.D. has served as a speaker, consultant, and advisory board member for Schering-Plough, AbbVie, Actelion, Alphawasserman, AstraZeneca, Cellerix, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, Ferring, Genentech, Grunenthal, Johnson and Johnson, Millenium Takeda, MSD, Nikkiso Europe GmbH, Novo Nordisk, Nycomed, Pfizer, Pharmacosmos, UCB Pharma and Vifor. L.P.-B. reports personal fees from AbbVie, Allergan, Alma, Amgen, Arena, Biogen, Boerhinger Ingelheim, Celgene, Celltrion, Enterome, Ferring, Genentech, Gilead, Hikma, Index Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, MSD, Nestle, Pfizer, Pharmacosmos, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sandoz, Sterna, Takeda and Tillots; grants from Abbvie, MSD and Takeda; and stock options from CTMA. G.R. declares no competing interests.

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Danese, S., Roda, G. & Peyrin-Biroulet, L. Evolving therapeutic goals in ulcerative colitis: towards disease clearance. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 17, 1–2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0211-1

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