Exploring Endotypes in Chronic Rhinosinusitis (ExpRess)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring Endotypes in Chronic Rhinosinusitis (ExpRess)
IRAS ID
202585
Contact name
Ana Pratas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
RP-PG-0614-20011, NIHR Programme Grant
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a chronic inflammatory disease where swelling in the nose and sinuses produces a common set of symptoms including blockage, discharge, facial pressure and loss of smell. Despite affecting 1 in 10 people in the UK, the understanding of why it occurs is somewhat rudimentary. Furthermore, CRS is an umbrella term with two main recognised groups (phenotypes) in clinical practice - those with and those without polyps. There are however potentially many more groups (endotypes) with as yet undefined biological signatures that may indicate the potential for personalised medical and surgical treatment, as early evidence has suggested. A biological signature might include a set of certain chemicals that are produced in the lining of the nose/sinuses that would help us to decide on the best treatment for an individual patient.
This PhD project will explore the differing mechanisms of disease in the CRS phenotypes by investigating the possibility of these specific signatures. The study will use samples of nasal polyps, sinus lining and mucus taken from CRS patients at the James Paget Hospital during sinus surgery. This will include samples that have been collected already (tissue bank) and new freshly collected samples. The PhD student will work in the Biomedical Research Centre (BMRC), UEA to test for biomarkers in cells grown in the lab from the donated tissue. This will allow us to determine a core set of biomarkers for CRS. In addition the PhD student will also investigate the CRS patients’ clinical data including treatment outcomes from the existing patient database at the James Paget Hospital.
A large clinical trial, commencing in 2017, will explore the effectiveness of medical and surgical treatments for CRS patients and provide the student with the opportunity for the defined core set of biomarkers to be analysed further, including identification of any additional biological and clinical data not currently routinely collected.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EM/0468
Date of REC Opinion
7 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion