Patients diagnosed with a debilitating bowel disease will soon be offered a revolutionary drug that dramatically reduces the need for invasive surgery.
Around half a million Britons suffer from Crohn’s disease, which causes agonizing pain, diarrhoea, exhaustion and extreme weight loss. About a third of patients suffering from this condition, in which the lining of the intestine becomes inflamed, will need surgery.
Many patients take several months to recover from the invasive procedure, while others are left with a stoma, where the intestine is diverted outside the body and replaced with a pouch.
In recent years, some Crohn’s patients have been offered a medication called infliximab, which has been shown to reduce painful symptoms and limit serious complications.
Kelsea Lindsey, 33 (pictured), from south London, has undergone more than 20 operations since she was first diagnosed in 2010.
Professor Miles Parkes (pictured), director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and co-author of the new study.
However, due to its prohibitive cost, infliximab has been reserved for severely ill patients.
But new research published last month has revealed that giving infliximab to Crohn’s patients immediately after being diagnosed leads to a tenfold reduction in the number of surgeries needed.
Now the NHS is set to roll out the new treatment program for Crohn’s patients, potentially saving thousands of people from surgery.
“Early administration of infliximab produced surprising results,” says Professor Miles Parkes, director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Cambridge Biomedical Research Center and co-author of the new study. “This will become the NHS standard of care for newly diagnosed Crohn’s patients.”
Crohn’s disease is an incurable condition in which parts of the digestive system become inflamed. Doctors aren’t sure what triggers it, but it’s thought to be related to an overactive immune system: Fighting cells that are supposed to attack harmful toxins mistakenly destroy healthy tissue in the intestine.
The damage can be extensive, affecting the entire digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. Most patients, when first diagnosed, will be offered steroid medications. However, these fail to stop disease outbreaks.
Many Crohn’s patients will continue to suffer extremely painful complications, including abscesses (a collection of pus caused by a bacterial infection in the lining of the abdomen). The disease can also cause the intestines to narrow, making it difficult for food to pass through.
Around half a million Britons suffer from Crohn’s disease, which causes agonizing pain, diarrhoea, exhaustion and extreme weight loss (File Image)
But in recent years, a new family of medications called biologics has transformed Crohn’s treatment. These work by targeting specific proteins released by the immune system that cause inflammation.
Infliximab is one of these medications. However, when it was first implemented, its cost (around £15,000 per patient, per year) meant it was rationed by the NHS. The new trial, of 386 people, gave infliximab to half of the participants as soon as possible after diagnosis. The other half received conventional treatment with steroids. About 80 percent of patients taking infliximab had their symptoms controlled for one year.
Crucially, ten patients receiving steroids required surgery due to Crohn’s disease, while no infliximab patients required invasive surgery due to the disease.
Experts say this means that, given the huge expense of Crohn’s surgery, giving infliximab to patients in the early stages of their diagnosis could save the NHS money. The drug now costs £3,000 a year.
One patient who knows all too well the danger of uncontrolled Crohn’s disease is Kelsea Lindsey, 33, from south London, who has undergone more than 20 operations since she was first diagnosed in 2010.
“It was completely debilitating,” says Kelsea, executive assistant and ambassador for Crohn’s & Colitis UK. “I had to walk with a cane and they registered me as disabled.”
In 2014, Kelsea had a temporary stoma placed, which helped reduce inflammation in her intestines. Today, her symptoms are under control and she no longer needs a stoma. She says: “If my condition had been caught earlier and treatment started, maybe all of this could have been avoided.”