Bronchoscopic sampling in progressive pulmonary fibrosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Bronchoscopic sampling in people with and without progressive pulmonary fibrosis to provide an early research resource for research into disease pathophysiology and potential new treatments
IRAS ID
302158
Contact name
Chris Ward
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) of the elderly, often has poor outcomes and can be of unknown cause. Patients can have a life expectancy of about three years after diagnosis and it is estimated that 1 in 100 of the population will die because of PPF.
In PPF, scarring of the lung occurs leading to breathlessness and low blood levels of oxygen with irreversible loss of breathing capacity. New healthcare ideas such as population based scanning to identify early stage lung cancer will lead to more diagnoses of PPF. Emerging evidence also shows that a minority of patients with long covid may develop PPF.
There are only two, expensive anti fibrotic drugs licenced for use in PPF. At best, these slow the rate of disease progression. Development of new drugs and an increased understanding are therefore an international priority. This is hampered by the widespread use of animal research, which is not accurate for human disease.New research has shown that the cells lining the airways in PPF may be important in the disease. Our lab has a track record of successful airways research and we want to make use of this in PPF. Our preliminary data suggests there are important differences in the cells lining the airways in PPF and we want to start to look at the effects of potential new treatments in our experiments. To do this it will be necessary to obtain cells from the airways of people with PPF comparing this with people without lung disease. We have safely done this type of research before in people with PPF, lung transplantation and normal volunteers. Patients with PPF consistently say that their priority is to see such new research that aims to discover new treatments.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/YH/0140
Date of REC Opinion
5 Nov 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion