THAMES-IBD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Therapy Personalisation using Multiomic Analyses in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – THAMES-IBD
IRAS ID
290708
Contact name
Nick Powell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
Nationally, over 300,000 people suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The commonest forms, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, can cause debilitating symptoms and require complex operations. Advanced anti-inflammatory medications target different chemicals involved in inflammation. However, treatment failure is common and we currently cannot tell which biologic will be most effective for different patient. Therefore, patients often cycle through ineffective medications before finding the best one, allowing disease progression and exposure to unnecessary side-effects, notwithstanding cost implications.
Positive findings from this study could herald a novel, personalised approach to IBD treatment. Various factors seem to affect the pattern of inflammation in individuals with IBD and, therefore, the effectiveness of specific medications. These include inflammation chemicals that can be analysed from intestinal samples, bacteria in the gut that can be detected in stool, small chemicals that can be measured in the blood and urine, nutritional status and psychological health. We therefore aim to collect a range of samples and information from adult patients with active IBD who are likely to start new advanced medication. Several major hospitals across London are taking part. Once their normal clinician has started the new treatment, we will monitor participants’ progress at specific time-points to understand if the drug is effective or not. With the large cohort of over 400 patients that we are aiming for over a 5-year period, we hope to understand biomarkers and nutritional and psychological factors that can predict response to anti-inflammatory medications. This could lead to precision medicine in IBD, where individuals are treated with the best drug for them early in their disease course, which would minimise morbidity and improve quality of life.
The study is funded by Crohn’s and Colitis UK, St Mark’s Hospital Foundation and the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Imperial College London.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/YH/0043
Date of REC Opinion
21 Apr 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion