Medical knowledge, and improved treatments and possibly one day cures for a variety of diseases, can only come from research. Research is the gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge. In PROTECT information on response to standardized therapy in children newly diagnosed with UC will be recorded at 25 sites and stored at the University of North Carolina Clinical Studies Coordinating Center.
By also obtaining biospecimens (blood and stools specimens, and tissue specimens from the lining of the colon obtained at initial colonoscopy) at diagnosis and during the first year following therapy (blood and stool specimens) PROTECT will hopefully improve the understanding of inter-patient variability in response to therapy and provide clues into the mechanisms that allow continued colonic inflammation. This effort will hopefully improve the health of children newly diagnosed with UC and may also lessen the likelihood of medication toxicity and the need for surgery (colectomy) in children diagnosed in the future.