Research sets global standard for Crohn’s treatment

Experts leading on the PROFILE trial say that following a blaze of publicity about their ground-breaking research, clinicians across the globe are making changes in the way they provide care to patients newly diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s disease is a life-long condition characterised by inflammation of the digestive tract and affects around one in 350 people in the UK. Moderate and severe presentations of Crohn’s disease can impact greatly on quality of life with symptoms like stomach pain, diarrhoea, weight loss and fatigue.

Professor Miles Parkes

PROFILE was the earliest “early treatment” clinical trial ever conducted for patients with a new diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and was led by chief investigator, Professor Miles Parkes, of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre at Addenbrooke’s.

The PROFILE trial was sponsored by Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals, and the University of Cambridge.

It recruited from 40 hospitals across the UK and was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network.

PROFILE involved 386 newly-diagnosed patients from 40 hospitals who were assigned at random to one of two treatment groups. Each group was given a different treatment strategy, and patients were followed up over the course of a year.

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