INVESTIGATION OF IMMUNOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN NASAL POLYPOSIS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
INVESTIGATION OF IMMUNOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN NASAL POLYPOSIS
IRAS ID
231639
Contact name
Stephen Till
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
KCL
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Nasal polyps are abnormal outgrowths in the lining of the nose that affect around 1-4% of the population. They can lead to major impairment of quality of life by causing blockage of the nasal passages and in many cases, loss of sense of smell. Treatments include applying strong steroid drops in to the nose or taking steroid tablets: these can help shrink polyps and restore smell but are often associated with steroid-related side effects and should not be used in the long term. Surgery can also be performed to remove polyps but in many patients they simply grow back over time and the symptoms return. There is a therefore an unmet need for new treatments in of nasal polyps with current therapies ineffective in meeting the long term needs of many patients.
The cause of nasal polyps is unclear. In Western countries, nasal polyps contain large numbers of types of white blood cells seen in the inflamed lungs of people with asthma, especially cells called eosinophils, basophils and mast cells. In some of our previous work, we used polyp tissue removed during routine operations to study the white blood cells, and found another cell (‘Th2 cell’) which we think may be involved in controlling and driving this polyp inflammation.
Some experimental clinical trials have been performed using new and extremely expensive artificial antibody therapies which can block Th2 cells. These drugs have shown promise, but require regular injections and widespread use is likely to be prevented by cost.
In this new study, we plan to extend our previous experiments performed on nasal polyp tissue. We are going to look at these white blood cells in more detail to try and better understand why polyps occur. We are also going to test some drugs developed for asthma for their effects on polyp Th2 cells. We will be also be looking at whether combining these drugs together may boost their effects on polyp cells. In order to test these ideas, with the consent of patients we propose to collect polyp tissue removed during operations for testing in our laboratory.REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1787
Date of REC Opinion
24 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion