STOP-UC: De-escalation of Therapy in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis With Histological Remission
The goal of this study is to better understand treatment strategies for people with ulcerative colitis (UC). Researchers will compare patients with UC in histologic remission (no evidence of inflammation or active disease on endoscopy and biopsies) who continue to take medical therapy to patients with UC who de-escalate (decrease or discontinue) medical therapy. Both treatment strategies are considered within regular medical practice. Researchers want to find out whether remission can be maintained after de-escalation of therapy. Participants will be: * either be randomly assigned to continue medical therapy or de-escalate medical therapy -OR- be assigned per the participant's preference * clinically managed according to regular medical care * asked to provide blood, stool (poop), and tissue samples for study purposes
• Consenting patients aged 18 to 75 years with an established diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (UC) for at least 3 years.
• Patients in deep remission, defined by the absence of endoscopic and histologic signs of active inflammation (i.e. histological normalization or histological quiescence) in all biopsies obtained during colonoscopy, within the last 12 months.
⁃ If the most recent colonoscopy is within the last 3 years and demonstrates normalized/quiescent pathology findings (i.e., patient is in stable remission), the patient would not be expected to undergo yearly colonoscopies. Therefore, a persistent normalized calprotectin test will be accepted as sufficient to define deep remission with no change in therapy.
• Patients in clinical, biochemical (fecal calprotectin \<100), radiologic and endoscopic remission since the last colonoscopy.