The Collaborative Network Approach: a model for advancing patient-centric research for Castleman disease and other rare diseases

A model for crowdsourcing high-impact research questions for Castleman disease and other rare diseases

BACKGROUND

There are approximately 10,000 rare diseases that affect around 30,000,000 individuals in the U.S.A., most of which do not have an FDA-approved treatment. This fact highlights the failure of traditional research approaches to overcome the unique challenges of developing rare disease treatments. The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network was founded in 2012 to advance research and treatments for Castleman disease, a rare and deadly disease that involves the immune system attacking the body's vital organs for an unknown cause. It has spearheaded a novel strategy for advancing biomedical research, the Collaborative Network Approach. This approach consists of eight steps, one of which is to identify and prioritize high-impact research questions through crowdsourcing ideas from the entire community of stakeholders: patients, loved ones, physicians, and researchers. Rather than hoping that the right researcher will apply for the right research project at the right time, crowdsourcing high-priority research projects into a research strategy ensures that the most high-impact, patient-centered studies are prioritized. The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network launched an initiative in 2021 to systematically generate this list of community-directed studies to focus Castleman disease research efforts.

RESULTS

The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network was able to successfully create a patient-centered research agenda through engaging the entire community of stakeholders. The community contributed important questions about Castleman disease, which were prioritized and reviewed by our Scientific Advisory Board, and the result was a finalized list of studies that address these prioritized questions. We were also able to generate a best practices list which can serve as a model that can be utilized for other rare diseases.

CONCLUSION

Creating a patient-centered research agenda through crowdsourcing research ideas from the community is one of the most important ways that the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network operationalizes its commitment to keeping patients at the center of research and we hope that by sharing these insights we can assist other rare disease organizations to pursue a patient-centric approach.

Congenital Hyperinsulinism International: A Community Focused on Improving the Lives of People Living With Congenital Hyperinsulinism

Congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) is a rare disease affecting newborns. HI causes severe hypoglycemia due to the overproduction of insulin. The signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia in HI babies is often not discovered until brain damage has already occurred. Prolonged hypoglycemia from HI can even lead to death. Disease management is often complex with a high burden on caregivers. Treatment options are extremely limited and often require long hospital stays to devise. Cascading from suboptimal treatments and diagnostic practices are a host of other problems and challenges that many with HI and their families experience including continued fear of hypoglycemia and feeding problems. The aim of this paper is (1) to describe the current challenges of living with HI including diagnosis and disease management told from the perspective of people who live with the condition (2), to provide family stories of life with HI, and (3) to share how a rare disease patient organization, Congenital Hyperinsulinism International (CHI) is working to improve the lives of HI patients and their families. CHI is a United States based nonprofit organization with a global focus. The paper communicates the programs the patient advocacy organization has put into place to support HI families through its virtual and in-person gatherings. The organization also helps individuals access diagnostics, medical experts, and treatments. CHI also raises awareness of HI to improve patient outcomes with information about HI and prolonged hypoglycemia in twenty-three languages. CHI drives innovation for new and better treatments by funding research pilot grants, conducting research through the HI Global Registry, and providing patient experience expertise to researchers developing new treatments. The organization is also the sponsor of the CHI Collaborative Research Network which brings medical and scientific experts together for the development of a patient-focused prioritized research agenda.

Development of therapies for rare genetic disorders of GPX4: roadmap and opportunities

Background

Extremely rare progressive diseases like Sedaghatian-type Spondylometaphyseal Dysplasia (SSMD) can be neonatally lethal and therefore go undiagnosed or are difficult to treat. Recent sequencing efforts have linked this disease to mutations in GPX4, with consequences in the resulting enzyme, glutathione peroxidase 4. This offers potential diagnostic and therapeutic avenues for those suffering from this disease, though the steps toward these treatments is often convoluted, expensive, and time-consuming.

Main body

The CureGPX4 organization was developed to promote awareness of GPX4-related diseases like SSMD, as well as support research that could lead to essential therapeutics for patients. We provide an overview of the 21 published SSMD cases and have compiled additional sequencing data for four previously unpublished individuals to illustrate the genetic component of SSMD, and the role of sequencing data in diagnosis. We outline in detail the steps CureGPX4 has taken to reach milestones of team creation, disease understanding, drug repurposing, and design of future studies.

Conclusion

The primary aim of this review is to provide a roadmap for therapy development for rare, ultra-rare, and difficult to diagnose diseases, as well as increase awareness of the genetic component of SSMD. This work will offer a better understanding of GPx4-related diseases, and help guide researchers, clinicians, and patients interested in other rare diseases find a path towards treatments.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13023-021-02048-0.