Leeds doctors to carry out research to benefit local patients
Rheumatoid arthritis patients in Leeds could benefit from new research which could enable those in the greatest need to become eligible for new and effective - but expensive drugs.
Doctors plan to develop a more accurate system of measuring disease activity and remission in RA, a serious, inflammatory form of arthritis affecting around 600,000 people in the UK, by using magnetic resonance imaging and ultra sound.
Clinical research fellow Dr Mark Quinn of the Rheumatology Research and Rehabilitation Unit at the University of Leeds has been awarded a two-year grant of £155,230 from the Arthritis Research Campaign to lead the study.
Patients with RA experience periods when their disease is active, known as "flare-ups" and periods where the disease is less active, known as remission. Because of better drug therapies, more and more patients are now experiencing longer periods of remission.
But current methods of measuring disease activity - by clinical examination - are no longer sufficiently accurate, and fail to measure significant levels of inflammation. The Leeds team believe they have found a much better ways of doing it, and plan to study 100 patients at Leeds General Infirmary, who are currently in remission, using new imaging methods.
"By using MRI we can identify swellings in the bones, which precede erosions; the classical damage seen in x-rays in RA. Intervention at this stage can prevent progression to damage," explained Dr Quinn.
"By having a greater accuracy of measuring the level of disease activity or remission, we can provide greater accuracy of treatment. For example, we may have patients who complain of pain and swelling, but who do not have any detectable disease. Rather than give them expensive drugs, they may benefit more from better pain control and more physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
"Those patients who have a lot of pain, and also have a lot of active disease, should be the ones considered for the new anti-TNF therapies. Our research could lead to better and more cost-effective management of patients."
Leeds General Infirmary is a leading centre for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and patients in the city took part in the recent clinical trial to test the effectiveness of the recently licensed anti-TNF therapy, Remicade. The drug has huge benefits for patients but is much more expensive than older therapies.
