Thursday, July 21, 2011

HUGE NEWS!

I am excited to report that the results of the ASSIST study are about to be published, and you fans get a sneak peak at the abstract! :)

I am one of the 9 patients who got control, and one of the 7 who went on to stem cell transplant, just in case you are wondering about my 15 minutes. It's big news, and I think should be a game changer in the treatment of scleroderma. Due to these results, Dr. Burt has started a new study which does not include control, and is comparing two different types of non-myeloablative stem cell transplant.

The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 20 July 2011doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60982-3Cite or Link Using DOI
Autologous non-myeloablative haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation compared with pulse cyclophosphamide once per month for systemic sclerosis (ASSIST): an open-label, randomised phase 2 trial

Dr Richard K Burt MD a , Sanjiv J Shah MD b, Karin Dill MD c, Prof Thomas Grant FACR c, Prof Mihai Gheorghiade MD d, James Schroeder MD e, Prof Robert Craig MD f, Prof Ikuo Hirano MD f, Karin Marshall RN c, Eric Ruderman MD e, Borko Jovanovic PhD g, Francesca Milanetti MD a h, Sandeep Jain MRCP a, Kristin Boyce RN a, Amy Morgan CNP a, James Carr MD c, Prof Walter Barr MD e ‡
Summary

Background
Non-randomised studies of haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) in systemic sclerosis have shown improvements in lung function and skin flexibility but high treatment-related mortality. We aimed to assess safety and efficacy of autologous non-myeloablative HSCT in a phase 2 trial compared with the standard of care, cyclophosphamide.
Methods
In our open-label, randomised, controlled phase 2 trial, we consecutively enrolled patients at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago, IL, USA) who were aged younger than 60 years with diffuse systemic sclerosis, modified Rodnan skin scores (mRSS) of more than 14, and internal organ involvement or restricted skin involvement (mRSS <14) but coexistent pulmonary involvement. We randomly allocated patients 1:1 by use of a computer-generated sequence with a mixed block design (blocks of ten and four) to receive HSCT, 200 mg/kg intravenous cyclophosphamide, and 6·5 mg/kg intravenous rabbit antithymocyte globulin or to receive 1·0 g/m2 intravenous cyclophosphamide once per month for 6 months. The primary outcome for all enrolled patients was improvement at 12 months' follow-up, defined as a decrease in mRSS (>25% for those with initial mRSS >14) or an increase in forced vital capacity by more than 10%. Patients in the control group with disease progression (>25% increase in mRSS or decrease of >10% in forced vital capacity) despite treatment with cyclophosphamide could switch to HSCT 12 months after enrolment. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00278525.
Findings
Between Jan 18, 2006, and Nov 10, 2009 we enrolled 19 patients. All ten patients randomly allocated to receive HSCT improved at or before 12 months' follow-up, compared with none of nine allocated to cyclophosphamide (odds ratio 110, 95% CI 14·04—∞; p=0·00001). Eight of nine controls had disease progression (without interval improvement) compared with no patients treated by HSCT (p=0·0001), and seven patients switched to HSCT. Compared with baseline, data for 11 patients with follow-up to 2 years after HSCT suggested that improvements in mRSS (p<0·0001) and forced vital capacity (p<0·03) persisted.
Interpretation
Non-myeloablative autologous HSCT improves skin and pulmonary function in patients with systemic sclerosis for up to 2 years and is preferable to the current standard of care, but longer follow-up is needed.
Funding
None

7 comments:

  1. Hi there - I love to come back to your site to see how things are going! I had the immunoablative high-dose cyclophosphamide without the stem-cell transplant - as part of the Johns Hopkins HiCy program - back in April. So far the skin and muscle recovery is incredible. And I'm finally getting my hair back again...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome!!! Now we need more funding...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am happy to share with the world because there are lots of doubts about the cure of Scleroderma disease, but now I have to believe that the miracle I received may be useful to the world and the victims of Scleroderma. My name is Harriet Kaur I lived with this deadly disease for over a year, my husband discovered that we were both Scleroderma positive. We try by all means to live our lives using anti retro viral Drugs, in spite of this thing in our body we were always unhappy, until we stumbled upon this powerful herbalist who portrayed healing. At first we were skeptical, but my husband insisted on giving it a try and ask some of the herbs shipped in for us, and a few weeks after the completion of the process due to this herbalist help, we went to test after taking the herbs for few weeks, we were crushed with joy we received results in the hospital from our family doctor. The rate of virus in the body within a few weeks had dropped, we were completely healed. The herbalist explained that he did not publish to the world because he had been refused in 2011, by the international research team because he uses a traditional means to cure patients. The most important thing is for you to be cured, if you want to know about this herbalist email him: SACREDSPELLTEMPLE@HOTMAIL.COM or add him on whatsapp +2348079540032. you can email me also for more information harrietkaur1@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am happy to share with the world because there are lots of doubts about the cure of Scleroderma disease, but now I have to believe that the miracle I received may be useful to the world and the victims of Scleroderma. My name is Harriet Kaur I lived with this deadly disease for over a year, my husband discovered that we were both Scleroderma positive. We try by all means to live our lives using anti retro viral Drugs, in spite of this thing in our body we were always unhappy, until we stumbled upon this powerful herbalist who portrayed healing. At first we were skeptical, but my husband insisted on giving it a try and ask some of the herbs shipped in for us, and a few weeks after the completion of the process due to this herbalist help, we went to test after taking the herbs for few weeks, we were crushed with joy we received results in the hospital from our family doctor. The rate of virus in the body within a few weeks had dropped, we were completely healed. The herbalist explained that he did not publish to the world because he had been refused in 2011, by the international research team because he uses a traditional means to cure patients. The most important thing is for you to be cured, if you want to know about this herbalist email him: SACREDSPELLTEMPLE@HOTMAIL.COM or add him on whatsapp +2348079540032. you can email me also for more information harrietkaur1@gmail.com.,

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for share this post....!

    http://www.herbs-solutions-by-nature.com/Scleroderma.php

    ReplyDelete
  6. Scleroderma is autoimmune disease in which your own immune system targets the connective tissues of the body. There's little scientific evidence to support the use of alternative medicine in treatment of scleroderma. Herbal Remedies of Scleroderma may be useful for individuals looking to manage this condition.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unfortunately there are a lot of AIDS/Herpes denials on Herbal cures still out there. I did research on them after I was tested HIV/Herpes positive I was so worried am I going to die soon. I continue my search again on herbal remedy for Std, then I found lots of testimony on how Dr Itua Herbal Medicine Cured HIV/Aids, Herpes Virus,Copd, Hepatitis, Diabetes, On websites sharing their testimonies, which made much more sense to me. All the authors pronounce Dr Itua As a man with Good Heart, I pick interest in their testimonies and I contact him about my situation then he gave me procedure how it works, I proceed after one week he courier his Herbal Medicine to me and instruct me on how to drink it for two weeks to cure. I receive His Herbal Medicine so I drank it for two weeks as I was told then after 2 days I go for a test I found out I was cured from HIV/Aids & Herpes Virus, I pay homage to him 2 months ago to his country to celebrate with him on his African festival which he told me it usually happens every year. I know there are lots of (HIV)/Aids&Herpes Virus denials of Herbal Remedy movement the same few doctors and they represent a very small faction of the community. I could have died because I refused Natural Herbs Cures for so long, but luckily, by the grace of God I am alive to tell my story. Contact Info...Whatsapp Number...+2348149277967,Email...drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com/My Instagram Username...avat5634 Just in case you need someone to talk with.

    ReplyDelete