QuBIE: Quantitative Biomarker Identification for Non-Endoscopic Prediction and Monitoring of Treatment Response in Eosinophilic Oesophagitis

嗜酸性食管炎（EoE）是一种食道（“食物管道”）疾病，影响着英国成千上万的成人和儿童。这种疾病与哮喘、过敏和其他慢性炎症有关，在过去十年中呈上升趋势。然而，在做出诊断之前，由于食物卡在食道中，通常需要数年甚至几次去急诊室。治疗是可行的，但并不是所有的患者都对治疗有反应，检查反应的唯一方法是侵入性内窥镜检查。找到正确的治疗方法可能需要在一年内进行多次内窥镜检查，即使找到了一种治疗方法，患者也需要在一生中定期进行内窥镜检查。该项目旨在通过两种方式改善EoE患者的护理：通过使用微创胶囊海绵测试从食道收集细胞来减少内窥镜检查的需要，并为治疗反应提供个性化的预测测试。作为早期癌症检测项目的一部分，我们的胶囊海绵测试已经被英国超过15,000名患者使用，减少了风险最低的患者对内窥镜检查的需求，并确保需要护理的患者得到更快的识别。与在医院进行长达数小时的内窥镜检查不同，胶囊海绵测试可以在办公室由护士在不到10分钟的时间内完成。我们已经与三家NHS信托基金合作，他们已经在癌症中使用了我们的早期检测测试，并进一步相信这是非内窥镜EoE测试的最佳方法。将招募已知患有EoE的患者，并提供内窥镜检查和胶囊海绵检查。结果信息将与生物标志物测量一起用于临床验证诊断，为个性化EoE管理提供清晰的读数。我们在生物标志物开发方面的专业知识，以及来自英国EoE顶级临床专家的投入，将使我们能够为患者提供一种非内窥镜生物标志物测试，这种测试将是强大的，侵入性较小的，为临床医生提供更多的信息，并使患者能够更好地管理他们的疾病。

Eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) is a disease of the oesophagus ("food pipe") affecting tens of thousands of adults and children across the UK. Related to asthma, allergies and other chronic inflammatory conditions, this disease has been on the rise in the last decade. However, it can often take years and even several trips to A&E due to food getting stuck in the oesophagus before a diagnosis is made. Treatments are available, but not all patients respond to treatment and the only way to check response is an invasive endoscopy. Finding the right treatment can take multiple endoscopies in a single year, and even after one is found a patient will need regular endoscopies throughout their life.This project aims to improve patient care in EoE in two ways: by decreasing the need for endoscopy through use of the minimally-invasive capsule sponge testing to collect cells from the oesophagus, and providing a personalised predictive test for therapy response.Our capsule sponge test has already been used by more than 15,000 patients across the UK as part of an early cancer detection programme, decreasing the need for endoscopies in patients who are at the lowest risk and ensuring patients who need care are identified more quickly. Instead of an hours-long endoscopy in a hospital setting, the capsule sponge test can be performed in an office-based setting by a nurse in less than 10 minutes.We have partnered with three NHS Trusts who have used our early detection test in cancer and further believe that this is the best approach for non-endoscopic EoE testing. Patients who are known to have EoE will be recruited and offered both an endoscopy and a capsule sponge test. The resulting information will be clinically validated diagnoses alongside biomarker measurements, providing a clear readout on personalised EoE management.Our expertise in biomarker development with input from the top clinical experts in EoE across the UK will enable us to provide a non-endoscopic biomarker test for patients that will be robust, less invasive, provide greater information to clinicians, and enable patients to better manage their disease.