Highlights from the 2024 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress: Transforming IBD Care

What happens in Vegas typically stays in Vegas, but not when it comes to the 2024 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress®. More than 1,600 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) healthcare professionals, researchers, and industry partners joined us at the Congress to share and learn about the latest advancements in IBD research and clinical care, gaining insights that they could take home to their patients. The Crohn’s & Colitis Congress was hosted in partnership with the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) in Las Vegas from January 25–27. 

Patients Maggie Tretton and Aaron Blocker were also present as reporters to share updates from Congress with the IBD community.

Watch Maggie’s Congress video recap here:

The keynote address, delivered by Dr. Stephen Targan, Director of the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai, focused on TL1A, a protein and member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family, as a potential treatment target for IBD. Dr. Targan and his team are working on clinical trials to test a new antibody treatment to block TL1A. Early results indicate that stopping the body’s production of TL1A can reverse fibrosis in Crohn’s disease. 

Additional highlights from research presented at this year’s Congress included:
 

• Monitoring a patient’s sweat could be a potential noninvasive alternative for measuring inflammatory disease markers.
• Newer medications, such as S1P receptor modulators, JAK inhibitors, and IL-23 inhibitors, give patients more treatment options.
• The cost of treating IBD is on the rise, driven primarily by rising costs of biologics, reaching almost $16,000 per patient. 
• A study found that the herbal Chinese medicine indigo naturalis helped ulcerative colitis patients reach remission.
• Children with very early-onset IBD (VEO-IBD) benefit from being treated by a multidisciplinary healthcare team.
• Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) predict chronic opioid use among adolescents and young adults with IBD.
• When paired with standard-of-care treatment, saffron supplements can reduce inflammation in ulcerative colitis patients.

Congress patient reporters Maggie Tretton and Aaron Blocker

As patient reporters, Maggie and Aaron also shared their perspectives on what these research updates mean to them as patients. 

View their video interview here.

If you would like to learn more about the research presented at this year’s Congress, check out IBD Insider: Patient Updates from the Crohn’s & Colitis Congress® for key research updates and commentary from IBD professionals.

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