View clinical trials related to Aplastic Anemia.
Filter by:RATIONALE: Immunosuppressive therapies, such as anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine, may improve bone marrow function and increase blood cell counts. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving anti-thymocyte globulin together with cyclosporine as first-line therapy works in treating patients with severe aplastic anemia.
RATIONALE: Infection prophylaxis and management may help prevent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection caused by a stem cell transplant. PURPOSE:This clinical trial studies infection prophylaxis and management in treating cytomegalovirus infection in patients with hematologic malignancies previously treated with donor stem cell transplant.
Background: - Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) can lead to problems with bone marrow health and result in low blood cell counts, which require frequent transfusions. Standard treatment for SAA involves injections of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) plus cyclosporine (CsA). This regimen has been shown to improve the blood counts in about two-thirds of patients. However, the ATG/CsA regimen has the following limitations: (a) the disease can come back (relapse) in about one-third of patients who improve initially; and (b) in about 10% to 15% of cases, certain types of bone marrow cancer (such as myelodysplasia and leukemia) can develop (called evolution). Experience with other drugs in SAA such as cyclophosphamide suggests that similar response rates to ATG/CsA can be achieved with a lower risk of relapse and clonal evolution. However, cyclophosphamide was found to have significant side effects in SAA when investigated over 10 years ago due to increase risk of fungal infections. - Better antibiotic drugs against fungus have been developed and are widely used to treat patients who have low white blood cell counts and are at risk of developing infections. In SAA patients in particular, these newer antibiotics have had a large impact in preventing and treating fungus infections. Researchers are revisiting the use of cyclophosphamide in SAA treatment, and plan to give a lower dose of CsA in combination with the immune-suppressing drug cyclophosphamide, as well as antibiotics to protect against infections, as a possible treatment for the disease. Objectives: - To determine the safety and effectiveness of the combination of cyclophosphamide and cyclosporine in treating severe aplastic anemia that has not been treated with immunosuppressive therapy.
Background: - Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) can lead to problems with bone marrow health and result in low blood cell counts, which require frequent transfusions. Standard initial treatment for SAA involves injections of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) plus cyclosporine (CsA). Patients with SAA who do not respond to initial treatment with ATG (refractory) have a high risk of dying without additional treatment. In these cases, for those who do not have a matched bone marrow transplant donor there is no well-defined standard therapy. In our experience with patients who do not respond to horse ATG + CsA, only about one-third of patients who are re-treated with rabbit ATG + CsA improve. Experience with cyclophosphamide in the treatment of refractory severe aplastic anemia suggests that this drug is able to improve blood counts in about 50% of cases. However, the cyclophosphamide regimen has been associated with a significant infection risk (mostly caused by fungus) in studies conducted over 10 years ago due to the lowering of the white blood cell levels. - Better antibiotic drugs against fungus have been developed and are widely used to treat patients who have low white blood cell counts and are at risk of developing infections. In SAA patients in particular, these newer antibiotics have had a large impact in preventing and treating fungus infections. Researchers are revisiting the use of cyclophosphamide at lower doses to minimize its side effects given in combination with another immune suppressant, fludarabine. Objectives: - To determine the safety and effectiveness of the combination of fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide in treating severe aplastic anemia that has not responded to initial treatments.
Rationale: Chemotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and anti-thymocyte globulin may induce the engraftment cross the immunologic barrier in the setting of HLA-haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. In addition, depletion CD3±CD19 cells may contribute to prevent developing severe acute graft versus host disease (GVHD) in haploidentical transplantation. Purpose: This phase I/II trial is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and antithymocyte globulin with CD3±CD19 depleted graft from haploidentical donors in treating patients with aplastic anemia.
This is a genetic disease (transmitted through the parents' genes) called Fanconi Anemia. Because of that genetic disease, the bone marrow has changed and now has failed, or has given rise to a preleukemia called myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or leukemia (acute myelogenous leukemia or AML). Without treatment these complications of Fanconia anemia (FA) are fatal. The only treatment that can cure these complications is an allogeneic transplant of stem cells, meaning, giving the patient bone marrow cells from a healthy donor that can produce normal blood cells that will replace the bone marrow that is sick. What has been given for the treatment of FA in the past is to use a combination of low doses of radiation to the whole body (total body irradiation) and low doses of the chemotherapy drugs (cyclophosphamide and fludarabine) before the transplant. However, the use of radiation can, later on, increase the chances of getting a second cancer of the skin, head or the neck. These chances of a second cancer are higher than normal in patients with FA. The purpose of this study is to find out if the doctors can do the same thing with the same chemotherapy drugs used in the past. However physicians will use another chemotherapy drug called busulfan instead of the radiation. The goal of this study is to get rid of the short term and long term risks of the radiation. The first new part of this treatment will be to replace drugs for radiation with chemotherapy drugs.
This clinical trial is studying how well giving fludarabine phosphate and melphalan together with total-body irradiation followed by donor stem cell transplant works in treating patients with hematologic cancer or bone marrow failure disorders. Giving low doses of chemotherapy and total-body irradiation before a donor peripheral blood stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells or abnormal cells. It may also stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. The donated stem cells may replace the patient's immune cells and help destroy any remaining cancer or abnormal cells (graft-versus-tumor effect)
The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if combining the drugs thymoglobulin, methylprednisolone, cyclosporine, and G-CSF (NeupogenTM or NeulastaTM ) can help to control severe aplastic anemia (AA) or hypoplastic myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The safety of this combination therapy will also be studied.
This study will use neuropsychological tests to look at nervous system side effects of Cyclosporine (CsA) in patients with aplastic anemia. CsA is used as part of an immunosuppressive regimen in treating severe aplastic anemia. The drug can produce nervous system side effects, such as tremor and, less commonly, insomnia, anxiety, headache, confusion or seizures. This study will look at effects of CsA on intellectual ability, depression, anxiety, attention, concentration, memory, perception, coordination, and thought processing in patients Patients 15 years of age or older who have severe aplastic anemia may be eligible for this study if they: - are co-enrolled in a Clinical Center protocol in which they will receive CsA - have not taken CsA for 6 months before enrolling in this study Participants undergo neuropsychological testing. In addition, they provide blood samples and their clinical data are reviewed for things that may influence the interpretation of findings from the testing, such as results of blood tests, types of medications taken, number of transfusions required, etc. The procedures are as follows: Before first dose of cyclosporine: - Patients are asked about prior problems with their nervous system, prior treatment for their aplastic anemia (including transfusions), prior infections, and current medications. They then complete the following sets of tests: - Battery 1: A set of three tests that measure intellectual ability, level of depression (if any) and level of anxiety (if any). - Battery 2: A set of seven tests that measure changes in the central nervous system and how these changes affect attention, concentration, memory, perception, coordination, and thought processing. - Patients provide a half teaspoon of blood for this study at the same time blood is collected for their primary treatment protocol. 6 months and 12 months after starting cyclosporine - Patients are asked about treatment for their aplastic anemia (including transfusions), infections, and changes in medications that have occurred since they started taking cyclosporine. They then repeat the set of tests in Battery 2. - Patients provide a half teaspoon of blood for this study at the same time blood is collected for their primary treatment protocol.
This study is designed to determine whether Umbilical Cord Transplantation (UCB) can be substituted for adult bone marrow cells in the standard stem cell transplant regimens used at this hospital for subjects who do not have stem cell donors.