A Pilot Study of Alpha-1-Antitrypsin (AAT) in Steroid Refractory Acute Graft vs Host Disease
Alpha-1-Antitrypsin (AAT)
Immune System Diseases
+ Graft vs Host Disease
Treatment Study
Summary
Study start date: July 1, 2013
Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.This clinical trial will study the safety and efficacy of using the drug Zemaira, an Alpha 1-Antitrypsin (AAT) medication (also known as an Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor [Human]) for the treatment of steroid refractory GVHD. For bone marrow transplant patients, the most common, serious complication is Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD), which at its most severe is a life-threatening, complication and a significant cause of treatment related death, following stem cell transplantation. GVHD is a major obstacle to the overall success of transplant treatment, a strategy that would otherwise provide the possibility of a cure for patients with blood cancers or severe blood disorders. GVHD primarily affects the skin, gut, and liver of the recipient, and involves the interaction of the recipient's (the host's) cells and tissues with the donor's immune system cells that see the host tissues as foreign, and attack the host's cells resulting in tissue and organ damage. The severity of acute GvHD ranges from mild to severe, and for patients who don't respond to steroid therapy, the complication is nearly always fatal, either from organ damage or opportunistic infection as a consequence of high dose, steroid treatments. There is currently no known effective therapy for patients with acute graft vs host disease that's refractory (nonresponsive) to steroid therapy. As stated earlier,the overwhelming majority of these patients may ultimately die from infection. The incidence of acute GvHD that requires intervention, is higher for unrelated donor transplants, the most common treatment option available, and therefore, these patients are at higher risk for treatment related complications from GVHD. Approximately 20,000 unrelated donor transplants are performed each year. The magnitude of this problem then is significant for patients who otherwise might be cured of their blood cancer or disease.
Protocol
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.40 patients to be enrolled
Total number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.Treatment Study
Eligibility
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.Any sex
Biological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.Over 18 Years
Range of ages for which participants are eligible to join.Healthy volunteers not allowed
If individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.Conditions
Pathology
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: Age >18 years Patients must have clinical evidence* of steroid-refractory acute Graft vs Host Disease (any organ) defined as one of the following: No change or progression in the stage of skin GvHD after at least 1 week of 2mg/kg/day methylprednisolone (or po equivalent) lack of response of visceral (liver, GI) GvHD despite treatment with 2mg/kg/day methylprednisolone for at least 72h. progression of visceral GvHD despite treatment with 2mg/kg/day methylprednisolone for at least 48h visceral GvHD progressing to stage 4 after 24h of 2mg/kg/d methylprednisolone Patients with protracted acute GvHD who have not responded to at least 0.5mg/kg/d of prednisone are considered eligible. Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. * As GvHD is a clinical diagnosis, and patients will have already been initiated on steroid therapy at the discretion of the attending physician, tissue confirmation of refractory GvHD by biopsy is not required for entry to this study. It is anticipated that most, but not all, patients will have undergone tissue confirmation of the initial diagnosis of GvHD; however lack of tissue confirmation for this clinical syndrome is not exclusionary. Exclusion Criteria: As patients with steroid refractory acute GvHD are quite ill with multiple abnormal labs and organ dysfunction, there are no explicit laboratory values or degree of organ dysfunction that specifically preclude enrollment on this study. Baseline lab studies will be obtained and followed throughout this trial as the standard of care for patients with GvHD. Pregnancy or Nursing Mother Vasopressor requirement Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents for the treatment of GvHD at time of study entry or at any time while on study or be on another investigational agent that can impact on the primary clinical outcome analyses or has known pharmacodynamics or pharmacokinetic effects on AAT. Patients with known antibodies to IgA
Study Plan
Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.One single intervention group is designated in this study
This study does not include a placebo group
Treatment Groups
Group I
ExperimentalStudy Objectives
Primary Objectives
Secondary Objectives
Study Centers
These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.This study has 2 locations
University of Michigan Cancer Center
Ann Arbor, United States