Dr. Didier Bouhassira, MD, Director of Research at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in France and member of Tools4Patient’s scientific advisory board, presented data at the 11thCongress of the European Pain Federation EFIC, September 4-7, 2019 in Valencia Spain. The presentation, entitled “Sensory Profiles and stratification of neuropathic pain patients based on the neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI)” was co-authored by Tools4Patient scientists Samuel Branders, Alvaro Pereira and Dominque Demolle.
This study aimed to identify specific sensory phenotypes of peripheral neuropathic pain patients that could predict treatment response based on pain symptoms assessed by the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI). Previous research had identified 3 phenotypic clusters based on specific combinations of symptoms in pooled data from inconclusive or weakly positive trials with pregabalin in peripheral neuropathic pain patients. This study confirmed the presence of these same 3 clusters in N=628 neuropathic pain patients from the Ambroise Pare database. Furthermore, patients in 2 of these 3 clusters demonstrated a response to Botulinum Toxin Type A treatment, while patients in the 3rdcluster were indistinguishable from placebo.
These results suggest that mathematical approaches like clustering can be used to identify specific patient sub-populations based on pain symptoms that may predict treatment response. “This and similar studies indicate that the dream of developing personalized treatments for neuropathic pain patients may not be too distant”, said Dr. Bouhassira.
“Using mathematical and statistical approaches similar to those employed in this study can also enable clinical drug development”, indicates Dr. Alvaro Pereira, Tools4Patient’s CSO. “Tools4Patient is committed to our mission of developing predictive tools that de-risk clinical trials improve decision making in drug development.”
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