Active clinical trials for "Pancytopenia"

To determine the time to and rate of hematologic engraftment following unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation in adults with one or two cord blood units using total body irradiation and fludarabine as the transplant conditioning regimen and cyclosporine/MMF as graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis.

RATIONALE: Although used primarily to treat malignant disorders of the blood, allogeneic stem cell transplantation can also cure a variety of non-cancerous, inherited or acquired disorders of the blood. Unfortunately, the conventional approach to allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a risky procedure. For some non-cancerous conditions, the risks of this procedure outweigh the potential benefits. This protocol is designed to test a new approach to allogeneic stem cell transplantation. It is hoped that this approach will be better suited for patients with non-cancerous blood and bone marrow disorders.

This trial, sponsored by Amgen, Inc., which produces the recombinant methionyl human stem cell factor (r-metHuSCF), also involves two other institutions. The primary objective is determination of the safety of administering multiple doses of r-metHuSCF in the setting of acquired aplastic anemia and evaluation of the effect of r-metHuSCF on peripheral blood counts. Potential effects of r-metHuSCF on frequency of need for red cell or platelet transfusions and on bone marrow morphology/cellularity will also be evaluated.

In this study, the investigators test 2 dose levels of thiotepa (5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg) added to the backbone of targeted reduced dose IV busulfan, fludarabine and rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG) to determine the minimum effective dose required for reliable engraftment for subjects undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for non-malignant disease.

To determine the therapeutic effects of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) in patients with aplastic anemia and related bone marrow failure diseases.

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.

Decrease in blood cell counts due to deficient bone marrow function, called bone marrow failure, as well as some lung diseases, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, can be caused by genetic defects in telomere biology genes, eventually causing telomere erosion. These disorders are collectively termed "telomeropathies". There is evidence that male hormones may improve blood cell counts in marrow failure, and these hormones are able to stimulate telomerase function in hematopoietic cells in vitro. We propose this study to the use of male hormone in patients with aplastic anemia and pulmonary fibrosis associated with defects in telomeres.

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a life-threatening bone marrow failure disorder characterized by pancytopenia and a hypocellular bone marrow. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation offers the opportunity for cure in 70% of patients, but most patients are not suitable candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) due to advanced age or lack of a histocompatible donor. For these patients, comparable long term survival is attainable with immunosuppressive treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CsA). However, of those patients treated with horse ATG(h-ATG)/CsA, one quarter to one third will not respond, and about 50% of responders relapse. Auto-reactive T cells may be resistant to the effect of ATG/CsA (non-responders), while in others residual auto-reactive T cells expand post-treatment, leading to hematopoietic stem cell destruction and recurrent pancytopenia (relapse). As long term survival is correlated to response rates and robustness of hematopoietic recovery, novel immunosuppressive regimens that can achieve hematologic response and decrease relapse rates are needed. This trial will compare the effectiveness of three immunosuppressive regimens as first line therapies in patients with SAA with early hematologic response as the primary endpoint, as well as assess the role of extended CsA treatment after h-ATG in reducing numbers of late events of relapse and clonal evolution. Randomization is employed to obtain an equal distribution of subject to each arm; comparisons of early hematologic responses will be made among the rates observed among the three concurrent arms (rabbit-ATG [r-ATG] versus standard h-ATG; alemtuzumab vs standard h-ATG). For long course CSA, comparison of primary end points will be to well established historic relapse rate of 38% at 2-3 years and a cumulative rate of clonal evolution of 15%.

RATIONALE: Giving low doses of chemotherapy and antithymocyte globulin before a donor stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of 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 abnormal cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well a donor stem cell transplant works after busulfan, fludarabine, methylprednisolone, and antithymocyte globulin in treating patients with bone marrow failure syndrome.

CD34+ stem cell selection in children, adolescents and young adults receiving partially matched family donor or matched unrelated adult donor allogeneic bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant will be safe and well tolerated and be associated with a low incidence of serious (Grade III/IV) acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD).