Is anyone participating in the current Phase III Stelara (Ustekinumab) study?

My husband decided not to participate in the Stelara study because he wasn't given much hope it would work, but ended up getting Xeljanz off-label, which has been a game changer and put him into remission. He was 10 days away from Step 1 surgery.

It is in Phase 3 maintenance study and rumor has it FDA approval for UC may be on the horizon for 2017. The nice thing about Xeljanz is it is a pill and you will know within 8 weeks whether it's working.

Verucasalt

It was surprisingly easy to get the Xeljanz approved. We have a good health insurance plan with Carefirst. We had already tried Remicade, Humira and Entyvio, and step 1 J-pouch surgery was scheduled. I suspect they figured it was cheaper to try the drug than the surgery costs.

My husband didn't want to try the Xeljanz because he had finally gotten good with going through the surgery. I pushed it, and so did the doctor (although it may have been because he hadn't had any patients who used Xeljanz before). While it is working for the UC, he still having complications related to the long-term use of steroids, and who knows whether this medicine will work forever, or what type of horrible side effects will sneak up. These drugs are just a big science experiment..

I see that Stelara got approved today in US by FDA for Crohns.

For most people, surgery definitely is the cure and a great solution. The day the Xeljanz stops working, we are getting the colon out.

Best of luck