View clinical trials related to Anemia, Hemolytic.
Filter by:In this prospective observational trial, participants with chronic hemolysis will be assessed with echocardiogram for elevated tricuspid jet velocity and other evidence of pulmonary hypertension. Participants will have laboratory studies evaluating: severity of hemolysis, splenic function, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and hypercoagulability. There will be 3 main categories of participants enrolled in this study: (1) pediatric participants with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) (HbSS, HbS/β° thalassemia ) who are not receiving treatment (e.g., hydroxyurea or chronic transfusions); (2) pediatric participants with other forms of SCD or severe SCD (HbSS, HbS/β° thalassemia) patients being treated with hydroxyurea or chronic transfusions; and (3) pediatric and adult participants with other non-sickling hematological disorders.
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.
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.
This study will examine the long-term safety and efficacy of Deferasirox in patients with sickle cell disease and iron overload from repeated blood transfusions.
People with severe congenital anemias, such as sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia, have been cured with bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The procedure, however, is limited to children younger than the age of 16 because the risks are lower for children than for adults. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of a BMT regimen that, instead of chemotherapy, uses a low dose of radiation, combined with two immunosuppressive drugs. This type BMT procedure is described as nonmyeloablative, meaning that it does not destroy the patient s bone marrow. It is hoped that this type of BMT will be safe for patients normally excluded from the procedure because of their age and other reasons. To participate in this study, patients must be between the ages of 18 and 65 and have a sibling who is a well-matched stem-cell donor. Beyond the standard BMT protocol, study participants will undergo additional procedures. The donor will receive G-CSF by injection for five days; then his or her stem cells will be collected and frozen one month prior to BMT. Approximately one month later, the patient will be given two immune-suppressing drugs, Campath 1-H and Sirolimus, as well as a single low dose of total body irradiation and then the cells from the donor will be infused. Prior to their participation in this study, patients will undergo the following evaluations: a physical exam, blood work, breathing tests, heart-function tests, chest and sinus x-rays, and bone-marrow sampling. ...
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the response rate and 1-year event-free survival in patients with severe autoimmune hematologic disease treated with high-dose cyclophosphamide.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether there is prompt engraftment after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation using filgrastim (G-CSF) mobilization in patients with life threatening autoimmune diseases. II. Determine the kinetics of T- and B-cell immune reconstitution after a combination of timed plasmapheresis, high dose cyclophosphamide and total lymphoid irradiation, and posttransplant immunosuppression with cyclosporine in these patients. III. Determine whether this treatment regimen beneficially influences the clinical course of these patients.
Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver disease in the United States and leads to cirrhosis of the liver in approximately one-third of patients some of whom will ultimately suffer from liver failure or liver cancer. At present, the recommended therapy of hepatitis C is the combination of alpha interferon and ribavirin given for 6 to 12 months. Ribavirin is a antiviral drug that is given by mouth. Interferon is both an antiviral and an immune medication which must be given by injections (three times a week) and has many difficult side effects. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the combination of ribavirin and interferon improve the liver disease of hepatitis C and whether improvements can be maintained by continuing ribavirin therapy long-term. This study will take 100 to 120 patients suffering from hepatitis C and place them under combination drug therapy with alpha interferon and ribavirin. The course of drug therapy is scheduled to last 6 to 12 months. Patients will be selected after appropriate screening for hepatitis C virus and elevated liver enzymes are conducted and liver biopsy shows chronic hepatitis with some degree of injury and scarring. During the first 6 months of the study, subjects will be asked to return to the outpatient clinic for routine check-ups and blood tests every 2 to 4 weeks. Blood tests will include tests for hepatitis C virus. If the virus test becomes negative on treatment, the therapy will be considered successful and will be continued for a full 6 or 12 months (depending upon the strain of virus). If the virus test does not become negative during the first six months of treatment, subjects will be considered "non-responders" and will stop taking interferon but will continue on ribavirin alone or an identically appearing placebo tablet. These non-responsive subjects will continue this therapy for an additional 12 months. (A year-and-a-half total). Upon completion of the drug therapies, subjects will be requested to submit blood samples and undergo a liver biopsy to determine if the therapy was successful. Test results that reveal a loss of hepatitis C antibodies or normal levels of liver enzymes will be deemed successful. Patients that have successful laboratory test results will be considered for continuation of ribavirin therapy. Patients that received placebo for a year will be eligible to receive ribavirin long-term at the end of the study.
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.