Clinical Trial: PROgressive Supranuclear Palsy CorTico-Basal Syndrome Multiple System Atrophy Longitudinal Study UK

Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Official Title: PROgressive Supranuclear Palsy CorTico-Basal Syndrome Multiple System Atrophy Longitudinal Study UK

Brief Summary: Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Cortico-Basal Degeneration (CBD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) are degenerative brain conditions for which there are currently no curative treatments. To aid the development of new treatment trials, there is a pressing need to develop better methods for diagnosing these conditions early, and to track disease progression. The PROSPECT-M-UK study will collect standardised clinical data over time. Patients will also have the option to have a brain MRI scan, eye movement exam and donate blood, skin and spinal fluid samples, with the aim to identify "biomarkers" that can improve the accuracy of early diagnosis and track the natural time course of disease. Control participants and those not meeting criteria for Parkinson's disease or other defined conditions but are considered by the investigator group to be allied syndromes or at risk states (atypical parkinsonian syndromes), will also be examined. Patients can also participate via the CBD European registry or in a one-off study assessment through the cross-sectional study, which involves completing questionnaires and a blood sample donation.

Detailed Summary:

There are a group of neurodegenerative disorders which are often initially diagnosed to be Parkinson's disease (PD), but which are biologically and clinically distinct, and follow a malignant disease course. The three most common conditions are PSP, CBD and MSA. These conditions have a median survival of approximately 6-7 years and unlike PD, do not respond well to dopamine replacement therapy.

PSP and CBD are characterized by tau-pathology and MSA by alpha-synuclein pathology. A great deal of pre-clinical work has been carried out on tau and alpha-synuclein disease models, yet there are no disease modifying agents for these conditions. There are a number of potential therapeutic compounds in development and in order to improve the likelihood of their success, there is a pressing need to increase the number of early case patients recruited into these new treatment trails. Thus, better methods for improved accuracy of early diagnosis and for tracking progression need to be developed. This can be achieved through:

1. a detailed study of the change in patients' clinical state over time;
2. studying "biomarkers" such as blood, skin, spinal fluid and brain MRI.

The investigators will recruit patients with PSP, CBD and MSA who are referred to specialist clinics for assessment and treatment. An additional group of Atypical parkinsonian syndrome (APS) cases who do not meet criteria for Parkinson's disease or other defined conditions, but are considered by the investigator group to be allied syndromes or at risk states will also be invited to participate in the study. People unaffected by neurological disease will be invited to participate on a one-off occasion.

To determine patient survival status after 5 years of follow-up for survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meier Method