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Alemtuzumab to Treat Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis

NCT00079768 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2010-06-17

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This study will examine the safety and effectiveness of alemtuzumab (Campath® (Registered Trademark)) for improving muscle strength in patients with sporadic inclusion body myositis (s-IBM). The most common inflammatory muscle disease in people over the age of 50, s-IBM progresses steadily, leading to severe weakness and wasting of the muscles in the arms and legs. The cause of s-IBM is not known, but it may be an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune cells (white blood cells) attack and destroy parts of muscle. Alemtuzumab is a laboratory-made antibody currently approved to treat certain leukemias. It has also been used to treat patients with autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, multiple sclerosis, and tissue rejection associated with transplantation. Alemtuzumab destroys white blood cells that have a protein called CD52 on their surface and that might be among the cells attacking muscle.

Patients with s-IBM are eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with physical and neurological examinations, blood tests, and an electrocardiogram. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures:

* Campath administration: Patients are admitted to the NIH Clinical Center for 1 to 1-1/2 weeks for intravenous infusions of Campath, given every other day for a total of 4 infusions.
* Follow-up visits after infusions: Patients are monitored for up to 1 year with periodic blood tests, physical and neurological examinations, medical history, muscle strength measurements, and a review of symptoms, including the ability to perform daily living activities.
* Lymphapheresis: Patients undergo this procedure for collecting large numbers of white blood cells twice - once at the beginning of the study and again after 6 months. Blood is removed through a needle in an arm vein and flows through a machine that separates it into its components by centrifugation (spinning). The white cells and plasma are removed and the red cells and platelets are returned to the patients through the same needle or through another needle in the other arm.
* Muscle biopsy: Muscle biopsies are done in the operating room under local anesthetic. A small incision is made in the thigh or upper arm and a small piece of muscle is removed. Biopsies are done at the beginning of the study and again after 6 months.

Conditions

  • Myositis, Inclusion Body

Interventions

DRUG

Alemtuzumab (Campath)

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

    lead NIH

Study Design

Purpose
TREATMENT

Eligibility

Min Age
25 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2004-03-31
Primary Completion
2007-03-31
Completion
2007-03-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00079768 on ClinicalTrials.gov