View clinical trials related to Hemoglobin SC Disease.
Filter by:Sickle cell disease (SCD), also known as sickle cell anemia, is an inherited blood disease that can cause intense pain episodes. Hemoglobin SCD (HbSC) is a form of SCD that is characterized by dense red blood cells. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxyurea and magnesium pidolate, alone and combined, at reducing red blood cell density and the frequency of pain episodes in people with HbSC.
Subjects have a form of sickle cell disease, called hemoglobin SC disease. This results in abnormally shaped red blood cells that get 'stuck' in blood vessels and then results in episodes of severe pain (pain crises). Patients with the more common form of sickle cell disease, called hemoglobin SS disease, also suffer from pain crises. Treatment with the drug hydroxyurea is available to help prevent the pain crises in hemoglobin SS disease, but there is no good treatment to help prevent the pain crises in hemoglobin SC disease. It has been shown that one of the reasons for the formation of the abnormally shaped red blood cells in patients with SC disease is the fact that these cells do not contain enough water; they are dehydrated. Drinking more water will not increase the amount of water in the cells. Certain salts and minerals can however have an effect on the amount of water in the red blood cells. One of the most important minerals influencing this is called magnesium. Magnesium is present in food and also in certain medications used to treat heartburn. Magnesium has been used successfully both in animals and people to increase the amount of water in the red blood cells and is very well tolerated by most people. Investigators are using a new form of magnesium known as magnesium pidolate because this form of magnesium may help with the symptoms of disease without causing diarrhea (a common side effect of magnesium products). Purpose The purpose of this study is to find out whether treatment with magnesium pidolate will increase the amount of water in the red blood cell and result in fewer painful crises in patients with hemoglobin SC disease while not causing diarrhea. The study will last for about 64 weeks (about 16 months).
The purpose of this study is to find out if using a lower dose of chemotherapy before stem cell transplantation can cure patients of sickle cell anemia or thalassemia while causing fewer severe side effects than conventional high dose chemotherapy with transplantation.
Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder that results from a single nucleotide substitution in codon 6 of the beta-globin gene which, in the homozygous state, produces an abnormal hemoglobin that is prone to polymer formation when deoxygenated. The polymerized hemoglobin leads to impaired deformability and sickling of red blood cells which subsequently lodge in end-arterioles producing the classic and most prominent feature of the disorder, repeated vasoocclusive crises. Despite knowledge of the precise genetic defect for decades, only recently has there been therapeutic impact based upon this knowledge when a clear benefit from treatment with hydroxyurea, a cell cycle-specific agent administered to induce production of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) by stimulating gamma-globin synthesis, was reported in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The reduction in the frequency and severity of vasoocclusive crises seen has been attributed to the increase in HbF levels in responsive patients. While the majority of patients demonstrate a rise in HbF, not all such patients benefit from treatment. Given these results, alternative agents that also stimulate the production of HbF warrant investigation in the treatment of SCD. Recombinant-methionyl human stem cell factor (SCF) is a hematopoietic growth factor with activity on immature hematopoietic progenitor cells. SCF stimulates the production of HbF in vitro and in vivo, and this effect is attainable without the myelosuppression associated with hydroxyurea. In this phase I/II trial, we will administer SCF in a dose escalating fashion to patients with sickling disorders. Parameters to be measured are HbF levels, F cell levels, peripheral blood CD34 levels, frequency, duration, and severity of vasoocclusive crises, and toxicity.