Journal Article

Bacteriophage Therapy for Difficult-to-Treat Infections: The Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Phage Task Force (The PHAGEFORCE Study Protocol)

Dupont, Lieven, Uyttebroek, Saartje, Spriet, Isabel, Peetermans, Willy E., Van Gerven, Laura, Metsemakers, Willem-Jan, Lood, Cédric, Onsea, Jolien, Wagemans, Jeroen, Lavigne, Rob, Pirnay, Jean-Paul, Chen, Baixing, Depypere, Melissa, De Munter, Paul, Devolder, David, Debaveye, Yves, Merabishvili, Maia, van Noort, Vera

2021

Overview

In times where only a few novel antibiotics are to be expected, antimicrobial resistance remains an expanding global health threat. In case of chronic infections caused by therapy-resistant pathogens, physicians have limited therapeutic options, which are often associated with detrimental consequences for the patient. This has resulted in a renewed interest in alternative strategies, such as bacteriophage (phage) therapy. However, there are still important hurdles that currently impede the more widespread implementation of phage therapy in clinical practice. First, the limited number of good-quality case series and clinical trials have failed to show the optimal application protocol in terms of route of administration, frequency of administration, treatment duration and phage titer. Second, there is limited information on the systemic effects of phage therapy. Finally, in the past, phage therapy has been applied intuitively in terms of the selection of phages and their combination as parts of phage cocktails. This has led to an enormous heterogeneity in previously published studies, resulting in a lack of reliable safety and efficacy data for phage therapy. We hereby present a study protocol that addresses these scientific hurdles using a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together the experience of clinical, pharmaceutical and molecular microbiology experts.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: antibiotic resistance / Antibiotics / Antimicrobial agents / Antimicrobial resistance / Bacterial Infections - therapy / bacteriophage therapy / bacteriophages / Clinical Protocols / Clinical trials / difficult-to-treat infections / Drug resistance / Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / efficacy / Endoscopy / Health Plan Implementation - methods / Health Plan Implementation - organization & administration / Humans / Informed consent / Pathogens / Patient Care Team / patient registry / Patients / Persistent Infection - microbiology / Persistent Infection - therapy / phage therapy / Phage Therapy - methods / Phages / Pre-existing conditions / Public health / safety / Sepsis / Staphylococcus infections / Study Protocol / Task forces