Clinical Trial for GVHD Sores

The National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is recruiting patients for a clinical trial testing the effects of topical thalidomide gel in patients who have developed mouth ulcers due to chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). 

The study will be conducted in two parts. Half of the patients who enroll in the first part of the trial will receive thalidomide gel to put on their mouth ulcers four times daily for four weeks. The other half will receive a placebo – an inactive gel - to put on their mouth ulcers, four times daily for four weeks.

If the thalidomide gel is successful in healing and reducing the pain associated with GVHD mouth ulcers, the second part of the study will test the effectiveness of thalidomide mouthwash for the same purpose.

If you would like additional information contact Tara Cozzarelli, RN, BSN, email her ar cozzaret@mail.nih.gov or phone 301-451-1683.

GHVD Clinical Trial for Dry Eyes

Researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are conducting a study of a drug called Restasis®, or cyclosporine, to prevent the onset or progression of dry eyes due to chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Patients who enroll in this trial will receive the study medication in the form of eye drops at their first treatment visit, one month after transplant. Patients will continue treatment with the study drug for 18 months. For more information email Leila Smaga at Leila_Smaga@meei.harvard.edu or phone (617) 573-4439.

Clinical Trial for Haploidentical Donor Transplants

The Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, MD, is conducting a Phase I clinical trial to determine whether a novel transplant regimen for haploidentical donor transplants (transplants using cells from a relative that only half-match that patient’s HLA type) is feasible.

To be eligible for this trial, a patient must have:

• A confirmed diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, prolymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, or a myelodysplastic syndrome

•           Expected survival of approximately one year or less with conventional therapy

•           No active malignancy in the central nervous system

•           A parent, sibling, or adult child who shares one haplotype to be a stem cell donor

Contact Michael Krumlauf RN at 301-435-2764 to learn more about this study.

New Study: Life After Transplant