FESCA

ESOS is a new study funded as part of the EULAR Orphan Disease Programme and co-ordinated by the University of Manchester in the UK. It aims to compare the effectiveness of different immunosuppressant treatments currently favoured by clinicians treating early diffuse cutaneous scleroderma. It will do this by collecting and analysing routine clinical information (e.g. laboratory test results and skin scores) from participating centres across Europe, following the informed consent of patients.

Treatment, in all cases, will be decided by clinicians and patients as per usual clinical practice and patients will be followed up in the usual way. Participating in ESOS, therefore, does not mean that patients receive any additional therapies or procedures. ESOS will focus on four treatment ‘protocols’:

• Methotrexate (an immunosuppressant treatment)
• Mycophenolate mofetil (an immunosuppressant treatment)
• Cyclophosphamide (an immunosuppressant treatment)
• No immunosuppressant treatment (because not all patients with early diffuse scleroderma are treated with immunosuppressant treatment)

Information about treatment, and the patient’s progress, will be recorded via a secure web-based data entry system and stored by the University of Manchester. This is a ‘real-life’ approach: a patient may change treatment within the study if, for example, s/he develops side effects to the first treatment. For further information about the study, its background and its progress, please visit the ESOS website at http://www.ssc-esos.net to view the page with participating centres http://ssc-esos-net/centres.asp