PROFOUND
Research type
Research Study
Full title
PROgressive FibrOsing LUNg Disease (PROFOUND) Identifying progressive fibrosing lung disease: a study of genetic and environmental interactions: an observational cohort study.
IRAS ID
279948
Contact name
Philip Molyneaux
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Pulmonary fibrosis or Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) encompasses a wide spectrum of progressive and irreversible disorders destruction of the lung. Clinically this causes cough and progressive breathing difficulty, which in the majority of cases result in death. Currently, diagnosis is challenging, with a third of patients either falling outside of the current disease categories or are termed unclassifiable.
Recent studies have highlighted similarities in genetic predisposition across a range of ILDs. The pipeline from the genetic makeup of an individual to proteins that are constructed from these genes can be viewed as a disease ‘fingerprint’ and scientific discovery along this path can lead to new understanding of pathogenesis.
We hope to identify specific markers in the blood of patients with a range of ILDs that will sidestep conventional classifications, speeding up the diagnostic pathway and avoid some of the more invasive diagnostic tests currently being used in clinical practice. We hope to collect breath, blood, urine and stool samples, as well as surplus fluid samples from bronchoscopy (a test which will be performed in some patients as part of routine clinical practice). We aim to use the data to predict which patients have more aggressive disease and those that are likely to respond to treatment.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/EE/0261
Date of REC Opinion
15 Dec 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion