Randomized study of autologous un-manipulated peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) comparing two regimens: (1) cyclophosphamide and rabbit anti-thymoglobulin (rATG) versus (2) cyclophosphamide, rATG, and Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg).
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is at onset an immune-mediated demyelinating disease. In most cases, it starts as a relapsing-remitting disease with distinct attacks and no symptoms between flares. Over years or decades, virtually all cases transition into a progressive disease in which insidious and slow neurologic deterioration occurs with or without acute flares. Relapsing-remitting disease is often responsive to immune suppressive or modulating therapies, while immune based therapies are generally ineffective in patients with a progressive clinical course. This clinical course and response to immune suppression, as well as neuropathology and neuroimaging studies, suggest that disease progression is associated with axonal atrophy. Disability correlates better with measures of axonal atrophy than immune mediated demyelination. Therefore, immune based therapies, in order to be effective, need to be started early in the disease course while MS is predominantly an immune-mediated and inflammatory disease. While current immune based therapies delay disability, no intervention has been proven to prevent progressive disability.The investigators propose a randomized study of autologous unmanipulated peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) comparing two different conditioning regimens: (1) cyclophosphamide and rabbit anti-thymoglobulin (rATG) versus (2) cyclophosphamide, rATG, and Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
66
Potent immunosuppressive agent; an alkylating agent
Medication used to decrease the risk of hemorrhagic cystitis prophylaxis
A predominantly lymphocyte-specific immunosuppressive agent which contains antibodies specific to the antigens commonly found on the surface of T cells
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Efficacy - Rate of Disease Activity
Defined as no relapse (defined as acute neurologic deterioration occurring after engraftment and lasting more than 24 hours, accompanied by objective worsening on neurological examination that are documented by a neurologist and not explained by fever, infection, stress, heat or related pseudoexacerbation; supportive confirmation by enhancement on MRI is preferred), no disease progression (defined as a 1.0-point increase in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) on consecutive evaluations at least 6 months apart and not due to a non-MS disease process), and no new or enhancing lesions on MRI
Time frame: 5 years
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Steroid
Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor; a glycoprotein that stimulates the bone marrow to produce granulocytes and stem cells and release them into the bloodstream
Sterile, purified immunoglobulin G (IgG) products manufactured from pooled human plasma and typically contain more than 95% unmodified IgG, which has intact Fc-dependent effector functions and only trace amounts of immunoglobulin A (IgA) or immunoglobulin M (IgM).
Infusion of participant's own stem cells