Research News

Using both MRI and CT imaging, researchers at the Stenosis Therapy and Antifibrotic Research (STAR) Consortium have developed a new method for measuring and tracking intestinal strictures in patients with Crohn’s disease.

Intestinal strictures, which cause abnormal narrowing in the bowel, can cause severe health problems for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. The STAR Consortium tool is a new, reliable way for clinicians treating strictures to deliver consistent assessment across patients and interpreting radiologists, by using MRI and CT imaging of the bowel. The method recently published in two separate papers in Radiology, provides a new, reliable strategy for testing therapies to treat strictures.

“Our research findings provide much-needed tools for the medical community to allow testing of antistricture therapies in our Crohn’s disease patients,” says Florian Rieder, MD, Vice Chair and IBD Co-Section Head in Cleveland Clinic's Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, within the Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute. “Treating strictures is one of the largest unmet needs in the field of inflammatory bowel disease. This work, performed by an international, multinational and multidisciplinary expert team paves the way to novel therapy approaches.”

New imaging methods open the door for the development of antifibrotic therapies for strictures in Crohn’s disease by providing measurable radiological outcomes for clinical trials. Researchers can now use these imaging techniques to determine patient eligibility for clinical trials and support clinical decision making of gastroenterologists and surgeons in daily clinical practice to help Crohn’s disease patients with strictures.

The STAR consortium is composed of researchers from Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Alimentiv Inc., and is supported by The Leona M. and Harry B. Hemsley Charitable Trust. The Consortium is working to share its experience and knowledge with regulatory agencies, pharmaceutical organizations and medical societies to improve patient care and clinical outcomes for patients with Crohn’s disease and intestinal strictures.

"We are extremely grateful to The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for their continuing support to improve the lives of patients with Crohn's disease," Dr. Rieder says. “The Hemsley Charitable Trust has once again provided STAR with an opportunity to bring together research expertise to innovate in an area of unmet needs in the study of Crohn’s disease.”

The Helmsley Charitable Trust's Crohn's Disease Program supports impactful ideas and mobilizes a global community committed to improving the lives of Crohn's disease patients while pursuing a cure. The trust is also supporting Cleveland Clinic research through multiple initiatives in the STAR Consortium.