Things are moving forward RE: a UK rituximab trial according to Jo Cambridge. Audience member asked about a UK trial -- much laughing at this point.
Dr Jo Cambridge gave a really excellent and easy to understand presentation on B cell maturation and function in general, how B cell dysfunction and the production of autoantibodies might relate to the immunopathology of ME/CFS, and the practical aspects of using rituximab to treat non malignant conditions where there is evidence of an autoimmune disease process taking place
However, she didn't put any 'meat on the bone' regarding which clinicians might/would be involved in a UK clinical trial; where the trial might/would take place; the development of the protocol, and when a clinical trial might take place here in the UK till the Q and A session
To quote from my scribbled notes:
It's very hard to get a rituximab trial going here due to a combination of -
developing a protocol
obtaining ethical approval
finding the committed clinicians
being expensive in both cost and time
lack of pharmaceutical backing (because pharmaceutical company support has occurred in other trials involving rituximab)
I was going to ask Dr C over lunch what she thought about the less than positive patient evidence from some people with ME/CFS who have been treated with rituximab in America outside the Norwegian clinical trial (which was raised during the meeting in Sussex I did with Dr Amolak Bansal three weeks ago) but wasn't able to do so
Overall, this was a very interesting and encouraging research orientated conference from the point of view of bringing in new researchers, developing new ideas about causative factors, and making use of new methods of investigating the underlying disease process in ME/CFS
So many thanks to everyone involved in both the organisation and the presentations, which took place in an excellent change of location
And it was great to put some faces to names of people from PR in the audience as well!