We have exciting news about our Dupuytren research and what’s next.
For years, the Dupuytren Research Group has worked toward a clear goal: to understand Dupuytren well enough to track it, predict its progression, and stop it before it causes bent fingers.
This year, we made important progress toward that goal.
We published our research.
Research led by DRG was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE: Identification of novel plasma proteomic biomarkers of Dupuytren disease.
Our researchers found 68 proteins that looked very different in people with Dupuytren compared to people without it. Using these proteins, they created risk-scoring tests that were up to 76.5% accurate.
This does not mean we have a blood test ready today. However, it shows that signs of Dupuytren can be found in the blood and points to where to look next.
We’re taking the next step.
Building on these findings, DRG is preparing a new Dupuytren Blood Biomarker Validation Study.
The study will include three groups: people with fast-changing disease, people with slow-changing disease, and healthy controls. By studying genes, blood proteins, and other factors, we hope to see if simple blood tests can tell these groups apart. Based on our results so far, we’re very optimistic.
Our research is different because it needs to be.
Surgeons measure finger angles to see how well Dupuytren treatments work. But that approach doesn’t work well for finding ways to prevent Dupuytren contracture, which progresses slowly and can start or stop at any time. Medical researchers use blood tests to find preventive medicines because blood tests can show results before physical changes appear. Our goal is to create blood tests that diagnose Dupuytren, measure its activity, predict its progress, and quickly test new treatments. These tools will speed up the search for treatments that stop finger bending before it happens.
Our community makes this possible.
The International Dupuytren Data Bank (IDDB), created and directed by DRG, now includes more than 10,000 participants from 73 countries. IDDB participants made our published research possible, and the IDDB will again be central to our next study.
If you have enrolled in the IDDB, participated in a study, donated, or supported DRG in other ways, thank you! You are helping move Dupuytren research forward.
We still have a lot of work to do. Today, there is no proven way to stop Dupuytren from getting worse, and no blood test to measure it.
Over the coming months, we’ll share more about our research and about how you can be part of our quest for healthy hands.
For now, we wanted you to know: progress is happening. And we are excited about what comes next.
Thank you for being part of it.
Do you like the new DRG logo?
Thanks again!
Charles Eaton MD
