Case in Neuroimaging
BOOST: BiOmarkers tO perSonalise Treatment for depression
Depression is the leading cause of disability. Treatment of depression is based on stepped care, in which patients receive treatment on a trial-and-error basis. Only 30-50% of patients benefit from each treatment step, resulting in prolonged treatment trajectories. The BOOST Depression project will develop biomarkers to enable the selection of the best treatment for each patient, such that they get better faster.
For this, the BOOST study will obtain clinical, neuroimaging (EEG/MRI), and (epi)genetic markers of patients with major depressive disorder before their treatment. Patients are recruited who will start with sertraline, cognitive-behavioral therapy, rTMS, esketamine or ECT. The BOOST study will create models which predict treatment efficacy using machine learning analysis, and validate the predictive models in subsequent clinical trials.
The BOOST study uses the 3T MRI scanner at the Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging for acquiring various (quantitative) MRI biomarkers, such as fMRI, ASL, QSM, diffusion, and T1 maps. As the BOOST study aims to recruit a large number of patients, similar data will be acquired at multiple locations in the regions Amsterdam, Arnhem, Eindhoven and Maastricht.
The consortium is funded by the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA-ORC), and consists of universities, medical centers, mental health care organisations, patient and professional organisations, and health care companies.The predictive models are expected to expedite treatment such that patients get better faster, which will reduce the disease burden for patients and costs for society.
For more information or to participate in the study, visit https://boostdepression.nl/ (in Dutch).