Active clinical trials for "Thalassemia"

Beta thalassemia intermedia syndromes are genetic anemias caused by mutations which reduce production of beta globin, a major component of adult hemoglobin A, the protein which delivers oxygen throughout the body. Patients suffer from poor growth, fatigue, heart failure, endocrine deficiencies, and eventually, many require chronic blood transfusions. There is no approved therapeutic for the deficiency of beta globin chains in beta thalassemia. This trial will study an oral therapeutic which stimulates production of fetal globin, an alternate type which is produced by all humans, but is normally switched off in infancy. This type of globin can compensate for the missing protein in beta thalassemia.

Thalassemia is considered the most common genetic disorder worldwide, occurring with high frequency in Mediterranean areas, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Currently, the only cure for thalassemia is bone marrow transplantation from a related, compatible donor. Gene transfer, achieved by transplantation of the patient's own blood stem cells that have been genetically-modified with the corrected gene, could potentially cure thalassemia. The first step in developing gene transfer for treatment of thalassemia is to develop a safe and effective method to obtain blood stem cells from thalassemia patients. Eventually, high numbers of genetically modified cells will need to be infused into the patient for clinical gene transfer to be effective. The blood stem cells are obtained by giving a "mobilization" agent to the patients. This causes the stem cells to leave the bone marrow and go into the blood. The purpose of this study is to test the safety and effectiveness of the new mobilization agent, Mozobil, in causing mobilization of blood stem cells for patients with beta-thalassemia major.

Hypothesis 1: A novel nonmyeloablative condition regimen will be safe and efficacious in producing stable donor chimerism and cure of severe hemoglobinopathy. Hypothesis 2: Stable donor chimerism will result in amelioration of cerebral vasculopathy, improved cerebral perfusion and neurocognitive function. Specific Aim 1: Study the safety and efficacy of a novel non-toxic conditioning regimen for HSCT for patients with severe hemoglobinopathies and the kinetics of lineage specific chimerism after HSCT We will test our hypothesis that a novel nonmyeloablative condition regimen will be safe and efficacious in producing stable donor chimerism and cure of severe hemoglobinopathy: Specific Aim 2: Optimize the immunosuppressive regimen for HSCT patients through a thorough understanding of the pharmacokinetics of Busulfan (BU) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the patient population. This will involve: Determine the pharmacokinetics of intravenously and orally administered MMF and intravenous BU in patients receiving HSCT. Determine the relationship of Area under the curve (AUC) of BU and mean trough concentrations of mycophenolic acid (MPA) to engraftment and graft versus host disease (GVHD). Determine the relationship of Area under the curve (AUC) and steady state concentration of BU to engraftment at day 30 and 1 year post HSCT. Specific Aim 3: Study the effect of complete or partial donor chimerism on silent and overt cerebral vasculopathy, and neurocognitive functioning in patients with SCD undergoing HSCT. We will test our hypothesis that stable donor chimerism will result in improvement in cerebral vasculopathy and neurocognitive function. This will include. Determine effect of transplantation silent and overt cerebral vasculopathy by comparison MRA and TCD 1 year after HSCT to pre-HSCT studies. Determine effect on HSCT on neurocognitive function. Specific Aim 4: To determine the rate of T cell immune reconstitution in children with sickle cell disease following myeloablative compared to nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation, using immunophenotyping assays, CDR3 spectratyping TREC analysis, and measurement of T cell specific donor engraftment.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of HQK-1001 administered daily for 8 weeks in subjects with beta thalassemia intermedia

The purpose of this study is determination of the efficacy of combination of hydroxyurea with L-carnitine or magnesium in improving hematologic parameters and cardiac status in patients with β-thalassemia intermedia in comparison with hydroxyurea alone .

In this 4-year extension study the safety, efficacy and and pharmacokinetics of deferasirox in regularly transfused pediatric patients with β-thalassemia major was assessed. Patients who successfully completed the main 1 year trial (NCT00390858) were eligible to continue in this extension trial and receive chelation therapy with deferasirox for up to 4 years.

To allow patients treated with deferasirox in the core study to continue iron chelation therapy for 2 years or until the drug became locally commercially available. To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of deferasirox by measuring treatment success, change in liver iron content (LIC) and change in serum ferritin levels. Safety was mainly assessed by incidence of adverse events (AEs)and clinically significant lab parameters.

A clinical trial designed to compare the safety and iron excretion properties of desferoxamine (DFO) and deferitrin (GT56-252), an experimental oral iron chelator.

Patients with beta-thalassemia (Cooley's Anemia) continue to suffer from the transfusion-induced iron overload due to the inadequacies of current iron-chelation therapy. Compliance with the use of the only FDA-approved drug for removing excess iron from patients (Desferal) continues to be a major problem despite convincing evidence that it markedly reduces morbidity and prolongs life. The full potential of iron-chelation therapy will not be realized until an orally-effective drug is available. This small trial is testing the premise that a combination of drugs as a new approach to iron chelation therapy may reduce side effects and increase efficacy. If both drugs can be given orally, there may be a better chance of finding a suitable alternative to Desferal. Several combinations of experimental iron chelating drugs are being used in this trial.

To demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of orally-administered pyridoxal isonicotinoyl hydrazone (PIH) for the chronic treatment of iron overload.