Birmingham-led PSC study awarded vital research funding

LifeArc and PSC Support have jointly awarded £898,774 for new research into primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a rare disease where the body attacks its own liver, causing inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts.

The national study, led by Associate Professor and Consultant Hepatologist at the NIHR Birmingham BRC, Dr Palak Trivedi at the University of Birmingham, is called FAecal microbiota transplantation in primaRy sclerosinG chOlangitis: The FARGO trial. The aim of the study is to explore the potential of a new treatment to slow the progression of PSC and improve the quality of life for patients.

PSC is a rare liver disease where the body attacks itself, causing inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts and liver. This causes bile to stop flowing properly, leading to repeated infections, liver failure and, in some cases, cancer.

In 80% of people with PSC the body will also attack the bowel, which can lead to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The combination of PSC and IBD can lead to around a third of all patients developing bowel cancer and patients require a colonoscopy every year to screen for it.

Unfortunately, there is no cure, nor any medication that has been shown to improve survival. Liver transplantation is the only lifesaving treatment and although very rare PSC accounts for 10-15% of all liver transplants performed in the UK and is now the leading reason for transplantation in several European countries.

Through this partnership the team aims to explore the potential of a new treatment to slow the progression of PSC and improve the quality of life for patients. The team, led by researchers at the University of Birmingham, has one of the largest PSC research programmes globally, with a dedicated PSC-IBD clinic as part of the Centre for Rare Diseases. The research team is partnering with PSC Support, the leading patient organisation for people living with primary sclerosing cholangitis, which has a wealth of experience working with medicines’ regulators on drug development for this condition.

Dr Trivedi, who is leading the trial at the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, said: “I am delighted that LifeArc has chosen to support such a novel, bespoke and distinctive clinical trial, and to enable us to the necessary ground work needed to better understand how PSC develops and progresses.

“This study will really help us to understand which gut microbes are most important, and how this potential treatment could be scaled up to treat more people.

“Our study will lay the foundation for future work on a larger scale, with a view to making FMT available across the world.

“Should our trial show that FMT works well, PSC Support will be advocating for patients to access FMT as early as possible. We hope this means it will be making a difference to patients within five years after we’ve completed this work.”

Read more about this study:

Researchers awarded vital funding to explore treatment to slow rare liver disease – University of Birmingham

New study explores unique approach to treat a rare liver disease – University of Birmingham