Multicenter, Nationwide, Observational, Prospective Study Based on the Development of a Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Patient's Database Linked to a Biological Sample Storage

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a chronic fibroinflammatory disease of the liver characterized by chronic inflammation and sclerosis of the intrahepatic and/or extrahepatic bile ducts, and a risk for progression to liver failure and development of colorectal and hepatobiliary cancer 1. Both children and adults are affected. Patients with PSC have a diminished life expectancy with a median survival of 17 years after diagnosis. PSC is the leading indication for transplantation in some European countries. Epidemiological studies have found the highest prevalence rates of PSC in Northern European countries and North America (United States and Canada) ranging between 3.85 to 16.2 per 100,000 persons. In Italy, the estimates is of 0.8 per 100,000 persons but these figures underestimate the real disease burden 2.

Liver transplantation is currently the only life-extending accepted therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) secondary to PSC, and patients with PSC complicated by CCA who meet specific criteria. PSC recurs in the transplanted liver in up to 40% of patients. Taken together and combined with patients' debilitating quality of life issues, these data highlight the considerable disease burden and clinical impact of PSC on patients' outcomes. There is a strong, yet poorly understood, relationship between PSC and IBD; nearly 70%-80% of PSC patients have IBD, mainly ulcerative colitis.

Despite the high mortality associated with PSC and the efforts to optimize its management, there is no medical therapy proven to halt the progression of PSC or prevent its serious complications.

There have been no epidemiologic studies in PSC carried out in Italy, with the exception of the report of prevalence from the National registry of rare disease which provided an underestimated prevalence of 500 patients across the country. However, this study is limited by the nature of the registry which has administrative purposes and has a high rate of underreported cases.

The aim of the study is to implement a nationwide data collection on this rare disease to describe incidence and prevalence of PSC in Italy; identify and define distinct phenotypes and sub-phenotypes of PSC patients; identify factors influencing the progression of PSC and affecting mortality; assess safety and long-term efficacy of novel therapies.