Biomarker application in the management of graft-versus-host disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of the potential for biomarkers to provide prognostic tools and instruct management of graft-versus-host disease following haemopoetic stem cell transplant.
IRAS ID
138839
Contact name
Andrew Chantry
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
SHEFFIELD TEACHING HOSPITALS TRUST
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Title; Can we predict graft-versus-host disease and its response to treatment?
Bone marrow transplantation is an important treatment for people who are diagnosed with diseases such as leukaemia and myeloma . The aim of the transplant procedure is to correct the disease in the bone marrow by first removing the malignant or malfunctioning cells by chemotherapy or radiation, and then replacing it with bone-marrow type cells donated from a related or non-related donor. Whilst this treatment is often successful, for around 20-50% of patients, once the donor cells have become established in the their new 'home', they can react against the tissues and organs of the patient causing severe inflammation which interferes with the function of organs including the liver, gut, lungs and skin. This condition, where the donor cells attack the patient tissues, is called graft-versus-host disease or GVHD, and is often fatal. Patients who develop GVHD receive many toxic drugs to reduce their inflammation which unfortunately also reduces their ability to fight infection and these patients have a poorer survival chance than patients who don't get GVHD. Also, patients who do not respond to treatment for GVHD, have a poorer prognosis. We want to improve our ability to treat GVHD by identifying who is at risk of getting the disease and also discovering whether a particular treatment is the best one for a patient who does gets GVHD. We will invite all patients at our centre who receive a bone marrow transplant to be part of the research. We will request that the patients provide several blood samples over approximately 1 year, at the same time as they provide samples for routine testing. The studies will be mainly performed at University of Sheffield Medical School. We anticipate this study lasting 5 years.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0060
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion