View clinical trials related to Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune.
Filter by:The hypothesis based on retrospective data is that, the rate of overall response-rate (PR + CR) at 1 year will be much higher in the rituximab arm (80%) than in the placebo arm (20%).Thirty four patients (17 in each arm) will be include (amendment n°6 - 15/10/2013) over a 3 year period (amendment n°3 - 11/12/2012).
The conventional treatment in warm-antibody dependent autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) is high-dose glucocorticoid, but in more than half of the patients, haemolytic activity will recur after end of treatment or during the gradual reduction in dose of the drug. As a result, many patients will finally be splenectomized or be treated with long-term glucocorticoids or other immunosuppressive drugs as azathioprine or cyclophosphamide. Recent studies have shown however, that some patients will respond to treatment with the chimeric anti-CD 20 antibody Rituximab and is some cases, the response is permanent. In most of the studies, Rituximab has been used in refractory disease or at least as second line treatment. In this study, patients with AIHA are randomized to receive either high-dose prednisolone with gradual reduction in dose over 2-3 months alone or in combination with Rituximab 375 mg/m2 once a week for 4 weeks. The efficacy of Rituximab will be evaluated by a comparison of the patients in the two treatment arms. The primary treatment goal is a reduction in the number of patients who obtain long-term complete or partial remission. The secondary treatment goal is a reduction in patients who will be splenectomised or receive other immunosuppressive drugs. Finally a comparison of side effects of the treatments will take place.
The primary purpose of the study is to describe by a prospective observational study the serious adverse events occurring in patients treated off-label by rituximab for various auto-immune diseases.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether the combination of low doses of alemtuzumab and rituximab are effective in the treatment of patients with autoimmune cytopenias who has failed on steroids, relapsed after steroids withdrawal or required continuous steroids treatment.
Treatment for patients with autoimmune destruction of blood cells is poor. The part of the body that fights infections is called the immune system and white blood cells (WBCs) are part of the immune system. Normally, a person's body creates WBCs to fight infections and eliminates WBCs which have stopped helping the body function. Patients with autoimmune destruction of blood cells have difficulty eliminating old WBCs. The abnormal WBCs build up and can damage other healthy cells, which can lead to anemia, fatigue, jaundice, internal bleeding, infection, and cancer. Few effective medications exist for treatment for patients with autoimmune cytopenias and those commonly used are fraught with side effects. Nevertheless, as scientific understanding of autoimmune diseases has improved, more directed and less toxic therapies are becoming available. A number of groups have been studying the efficacy of a medication called sirolimus in patients with autoimmune diseases. This medicine has been FDA-approved for over 20 years. Sirolimus is a medicine used in children with other diseases. Sirolimus works, in part, by eliminating old and abnormal WBCs. Our group and others have shown that sirolimus is effective in mice with autoimmunity and in children with a rare condition called Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS). We believe sirolimus will help children with autoimmune cytopenias. We believe it will improve their symptoms and make them less sick. We propose to study sirolimus in children with chronic and/or refractory autoimmune cytopenias.
Chronic cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a type of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (anemia due to destruction of red blood cells by abnormal antibodies). Almost all patients also suffer from cold-induced disturbances of blood circulation. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with rituximab (an antibody against B lymphocytes) and fludarabine (a cytotoxic drug) for CAD. Another aim is to try to assess whether these agents in combination are better than single agent therapy with rituximab.
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can block cancer growth in different ways. Some block the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Others find cancer cells and help kill them or carry cancer-killing substances to them. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) together with rituximab may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with rituximab works in treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that has not responded to fludarabine (closed to entry as of 10/2006), CLL with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, or Richter transformation.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the response rate and 1-year event-free survival in patients with severe autoimmune hematologic disease treated with high-dose cyclophosphamide.
Platelets are particles found along with red and white blood cells in the blood that play a role in the process of blood clotting. Disorders affecting the platelets can lower the amount of platelets in the blood and put patients at risk of bleeding. The condition of low platelets is referred to as thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia can be associated with a variety of diseases including cancer, leukemia, tuberculosis, or as a result of an autoimmune reaction. Autoimmune reactions are disorders in which the normal immune system begins attacking itself. Autoimmune thrombocytopenia (AITP) is a disorder of low blood platelet counts in which platelets are destroyed by antibodies produced by the immune system. Unfortunately, many patients with AITP do not respond to standard treatments for thrombocytopenia. Cyclophosphamide is a drug that works to suppress the activity of the immune system. Researchers believe that combining this drug with transplanted rescued blood stem cells may provide effective treatment for AITP. The purpose of this study is to explore the affordability and safety of this therapy for the treatment of AITP. The effectiveness of the therapy will be measured by the number of patients whose platelet levels rise greater than 100,000/m3. If this treatment approach appears affordable, this study will form the basis for a larger study to compare alternate treatment approaches.