Active clinical trials for "Graft vs Host Disease"

Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), also known as extracorporeal photoimmunotherapy or photochemotherapy, is a leukapheresis-based therapy that has been in clinical use for over three decades after receiving FDA approval in 1988. Extracorporeal photopheresis was initially used for the treatment of T-cell lymphoma. Since its introduction, indications for initiating ECP were continuously extended to the treatment of Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD), systemic sclerosis, and in the field of solid organ transplantation. There is also evidence supporting the use of ECP in generalized morphea, a form of scleroderma limited to the skin, and in eosinophilic fasciitis, which is a rare, localized fibrosing disorder of the fascia. Concluding the results of the published studies, there is evidence that ECP has a positive effect on fibrosing disorders of the skin. Furthermore, in clinical practice, it has been observed that patients with systemic sclerosis, who undergo ECP treatment, show improvement of the skin lesions or a deceleration in the formation progress of such lesions during the therapy. Same findings can be observed in patients with sclerotic skin lesions of the skin, for example in the context of a GvHD. There are no clinical studies so far that describe these processes using objective measuring methods. Furthermore, the mechanism of action of ECP in systemic sclerosis and other fibrosing disorders with skin manifestations, has not yet been conclusively clarified. Serological markers for monitoring the progress of the therapy and determining the prognosis are also missing. Thus, a consensus regarding the frequency and duration of ECP for the therapy of systemic scleroderma or sclerotic diseases has not yet been reached. This study aims at evaluating the influence of Extracorporeal Photopheresis on the quality and functionality of sclerotic skin lesions assessed by several objective methods. Furthermore, potential biomarkers, which are being investigated in current studies, are to be determined in order to evaluate the influence of ECP on those biomarkers and better understand the mechanism of action of ECP on systemic sclerosis and fibrosing disorders involving the skin.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the basiliximab for prevention of graft-versus-host disease in unrelated allo-genetic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for thalassemia major. The objective was to evaluate the effect and safety of basiliximab for acute graft-versus-host disease.

The effects of haploidentical rhG-CSF-mobilized unmanipulated blood and marrow transplantation (HBMT) on hematological malignancies are well established.The aim of this prospective cohort trial is to determine if acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) could be decreased with IL2 therapy post HBMT.

By doing this study, researchers hope to understand the many changes that occur in the blood of people who have chronic GvHD. This may also help the researcher understand how ECP works and help guide therapy for patients who have chronic GvHD in the future.

RATIONALE: Collecting and storing samples of blood, urine, and tissue from patients undergoing a donor stem cell transplant to test in the laboratory may help the study of graft-versus-host disease in the future. PURPOSE: This research study is collecting and storing tissue and DNA samples from patients undergoing a donor stem cell transplant.

This research trial studies medical chart review in determining outcomes of second-line therapy in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease previously treated with extracorporeal photopheresis or other systemic therapies. Gathering information about second-line therapy in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease may help doctors learn more about the disease and find better treatment.

This protocol serves as a mechanism to collect, store, and distribute bodily fluid and tissue samples obtained from Hematopoietic Cell Transplant (HCT) or novel immunotherapy patients and their donors at the Masonic Cancer Center in order to conduct correlative studies of the immune system, microbiota, and their interactions. Fluid (including but not limited to, blood, urine, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) sample log-in, processing, relabeling, and storage is performed by the Masonic Cancer Center (MCC) Translational Therapy Lab (TTL).

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy and total-body irradiation before a donor bone marrow transplant or peripheral blood stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells. It also helps stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. When the healthy stem cells from a donor are infused into the patient they may help the patient's bone marrow make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving antithymocyte globulin before transplant and cyclosporine after transplant may stop this from happening. PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying how well giving antithymocyte globulin together with cyclosporine works in preventing graft-versus-host disease in patients who are undergoing chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy followed by donor stem cell transplant for acute lymphoblastic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia.

RATIONALE: An infusion of cytomegalovirus-specific T lymphocytes may prevent or reduce cytomegalovirus infection during the first year after a donor stem cell transplant. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying T-lymphocyte infusion to see how well it works compared with standard therapy in treating patients at risk of cytomegalovirus infection after a donor stem cell transplant.

The molecular mechanisms of action of photo(chemo)therapy in skin diseases are investigated in this study. The phototherapeutic modalities employed include UVB (ultraviolet B), UVA (ultraviolet A), PUVA (psoralen+UVA) and/or extracorporeal photochemotherapy (photopheresis). The study will address whether and how photo(chemo)therapy affects specific biologic pathways in different skin disorders and search for predictive biomarkers.