Active clinical trials for "Bone Marrow Failure Disorders"

This study will examine whether cytokine gene polymorphisms affect the progression or response to therapy of bone marrow failure disorders. Cytokine genes instruct cells to produce proteins called cytokines that influence immune system response. As with many genes, the cytokine genes differ slightly from person to person. These differences are called gene polymorphisms. Different patients with the same bone marrow failure disease often progress and respond to treatment differently. This study will look at the possible role of cytokine gene polymorphisms in these differences. Patients between 2 and 80 years old who have participated in an NHLBI Hematology Branch treatment protocol for acquired aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or pure red cell aplasia are recruited to participate in this study. Blood collected and stored at the time of screening for the treatment protocol will be tested for cytokine gene polymorphisms. No additional tests, procedures, or treatments are involved in this study.

Bone marrow failure syndromes (BMFS) are rare disorders characterized by dysfunctional hematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to all red and white blood cells. The deficiency of blood cells, or cytopenia, caused by this malfunction leads to an assortment of diseases and disorders, all of which are characterized as BMFS. Because these diseases are rare, conducting research on them is difficult, and standards of treatment for most BMFS have yet to be developed. This study will collect clinical and laboratory data from people with BMFS to identify the characteristics and biological markers associated with these diseases over time. This information will assist doctors and researchers to develop better therapies and diagnostic tests that will help improve the management of BMFS and cytopenias.

The purpose of the study is to detect the presence of autoantibodies and autoantigens in cerebrospinal fluid early (<48 hours) following spinal cord trauma. The study also aims to define the central or peripheral origin of autoantibodies by looking for their simultaneous presence at the blood level and to evaluate the prognostic value of the presence of autoantibodies within the cerebrospinal fluid, as well as on the initial clinical severity than on the recovery potential.

The primary objective of this protocol is to expand access for patients who lack a fully HLA (Human leukocyte antigen) matched sibling donor, and who are candidates for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). These patients have a serious or immediately life-threatening disease for which HSCT is indicated. These patients are not eligible for other Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved protocols that utilize CliniMACs technology for T depletion.

This protocol provides expanded access to bone marrow transplants for children who lack a histocompatible (tissue matched) stem cell or bone marrow donor when an alternative donor (unrelated donor or half-matched related donor) is available to donate. In this procedure, some of the blood forming cells (the stem cells) are collected from the blood of a partially human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched (haploidentical) donor and are transplanted into the patient (the recipient) after administration of a "conditioning regimen". A conditioning regimen consists of chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to the entire body (total body irradiation, or TBI), which is meant to destroy the cancer cells and suppress the recipient's immune system to allow the transplanted cells to take (grow). A major problem after a transplant from an alternative donor is increased risk of Graft-versus-Host Disease (GVHD), which occurs when donor T cells (white blood cells that are involved with the body's immune response) attack other tissues or organs like the skin, liver and intestines of the transplant recipient. In this study, stem cells that are obtained from a partially-matched donor will be highly purified using the investigational CliniMACS® stem cell selection device in an effort to achieve specific T cell target values. The primary aim of the study is to help improve overall survival with haploidentical stem cell transplant in a high risk patient population by limiting the complication of GVHD.

Patients who are positive of PNH-type cells are followed up for the percentage of PNH-type cells regularly for examining how it change.