(NewsNation) — It’s one thing to better understand a disease. It’s another thing — a very big thing — for that understanding to blaze a path to better treatment. That’s what researchers believe they’ve discovered when it comes to inflammatory bowl disorder.
“We’ve uncovered a pathway that appears to play a major role in IBD and other inflammatory diseases,” said Dr. James Lee, who led the research at the Francis Crick Institute in London.
Using genetic editing, researchers believe they’ve found the biological pathway that goes wrong when people get IBD. The findings were published in the journal Nature.
To discover what goes wrong in people who get IBD “not only gives us a better understanding of the disease, it tells us this is something we can treat,” Lee told The Guardian.
Even better, said Lee: Doctors may be able to treat IBD with existing drugs. Researchers found a class of drugs used on some cancers that have helped “switch off” the part of a gene that appears to increase the inflammation that IBD patients experience.
At least seven million people worldwide suffer from the two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Steroids can ease some of the symptoms, which range from pain and weight loss to severe diarrhea. And many people need surgery to remove part of their bowel.
Scientists are now working to “fine tune” the cancer drugs to reduce side effects and target specific cells. Clinical trials will follow, a process that could take up to five years.