Re: [AISupport] UCLA Seeks Scleroderma Patients for Study Comparing Stem Cell Transplant to Chemotherapy Drug for Treating Disease

[Guest guest]

M Cothren wrote:

> PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG! If this study in the use of targeted stem

> cells works [ if they can " reboot " the human immune system in this

> fashion], there are 80 other auto immune diseases that they hope to

> " correct " in this way.

>

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>

> Contact: Champeau ( rchampeau@... )

> Phone: 310-794-2270

>

> UCLA Seeks Scleroderma Patients for Study Comparing Stem Cell

> Transplant to Chemotherapy Drug for Treating Disease

>

> UCLA researchers are seeking scleroderma patients with severe systemic

> disease -- who have been diagnosed within the last five years -- for

> a national study comparing the effectiveness of a stem cell transplant

> to high doses of a cancer chemotherapy drug as possible new treatments

> for the disease. Over 50 percent of scleroderma patients with severe

> systemic disease die within five years of diagnosis. No cure exists

> and current treatments are only modestly effective.

>

> " This is often a very serious life-threatening disease with no truly

> effective therapies to slow down the disease's progression, " said Dr.

> Furst, Carl M. Pearson Professor of Rheumatology at the

> Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and principal investigator.

>

> Scleroderma, an autoimmune disorder, causes excess collagen to collect

> in the skin, joints, blood vessels and internal organs, like the

> lungs. The skin hardens and sometimes the disease affects organ

> function. Approximately 100,000 to 300,000 Americans suffer from the

> disease, mostly women.

>

> " These two experimental approaches target the entire immune system and

> we hope may correct the defect that causes scleroderma, " said Dr.

> Philip Clements, professor of rheumatology and co-investigator.

>

> To qualify for the five-year study, patients must range in age from

> 18-65 and have been diagnosed within the last five years with systemic

> scleroderma that involves at least the skin, lungs and/or kidneys. An

> initial screening phase may involve the following tests: X-rays and CT

> scans, echocardiograms and electrocardiograms, blood and pulmonary

> function tests, bone marrow assessment, heart catheterization and

> gastrointestinal screenings. A second preliminary phase will occur at

> the City of Hope where the stem cell transplant procedures will take

> place.

>

> Participants will then be chosen randomly -- similar to flipping a

> coin -- to receive one of two treatments. Half the patients will

> receive radiation and chemotherapy to wipe out their defective immune

> systems, then will receive a transplant of their own stem cells that

> is hoped to regenerate a new immune system that will not trigger

> scleroderma.

>

> The other participants will receive 12 monthly infusions of high doses

> of a cancer chemotherapy drug called cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), which

> is currently FDA-approved for use with several kinds of cancers.

> According to Clements, preliminary studies have shown that this

> anti-inflammatory immune suppressant drug may be effective in treating

> lung damage from scleroderma and high doses may improve the disease

> dramatically.

>

> Side effects for the stem cell transplant are serious and can include

> development of cancers (particularly of the bladder), early menopause

> symptoms, cataracts, reduced thyroid function, hair loss, kidney

> damage and infertility.

>

> Side effects of cyclophospamide include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,

> skin rashes, low white blood cell counts and low platelet counts.

> Cyclophospamide may also cause bladder injury and fibrosis (or scar

> tissue) of the ovaries.

>

> The study is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and

> Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. For

> more information, please call (310) 206-4112 or (866) 909-SCOT or

> visit www.sclerodermatrial.org <http://www.sclerodermatrial.org/>.

>

>