LIST Trial Will Investigate Stem Cell Transplants for Lupus
A new clinical trial has begun recruiting patients for a study testing the possibility of using stem cell transplants as a treatment for severe lupus. The LIST Study (Lupus Immunosuppressive/Immunomodulatory Therapy or Stem Cell Transplant) will compare two groups of patients with lupus. One group will have special immune cells called stem cells removed from their bone marrow; these are the original immune cells that give birth to all of the different types of immune cells in the body. Once these are removed, these patients will then receive high-dose chemotherapy to kill all their remaining immune cells, after which the stem cells will be put back to try to bring the immune system back in a healthier form.
The second group of study subjects will receive one or more of the standard treatments used to treat serious manifestations of lupus -- corticosteroids, azathioprine, methotrexate, cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil, plasmapheresis, IVIG, rituximab, and leflunomide.
Enrollment has begun at five centers and will run until the end of 2008. After enrollment, treatment during the LIST trial will last for 30 months. The LIST Trial is proceeding based on preliminary results from earlier clinical trials, at Northwestern University in Chicago and in Europe, using stem cell transplants to treat lupus patients. It needs to be stressed that this study is only appropriate for people who have severe lupus activity.
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