Different therapy for vasculitis reduces devastating side effect
Robert Spiera, of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York told Eurekalert.com that patients who took cylophosphamide long enough were at higher risk for leukemias, lymphomas, and solid tumors.
Some patients could suffer from terrible infections and women are at a high risk for infertility. With the certain probability of experiencing such terrible side effects, researchers from hospitals around the country, including Hopkins's Vasculitis Center, have been working to find a new treatment for ANCA-associated vasculitis.
Rituxan, a Genentech-manufactured drug that is currently used to treat non-Hodgkins B cell lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, was discovered to effectively treat ANCA-associated vasculitis as well. Spiera considers this finding to be very significant, and pointed out that Rituxan causes fewer side effects, inclduing secondary cancers, than cyclophosphamide.
Investigators, including the Mayo Clinic's Ulrick Specks, M.D. and Massachusetts General Hospital's John Stone, M.D., M.P.H, found that the alleviating effects of Rituxan were at least equivalent to, if not slightly better than, the effects of cyclophosphamide.
Nine centers where the study was conducted enrolled 197 patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. The patients were randomly chosen to receive either the standard cyclophosphamide treatment or the experimental Rituxan drug for one year.
Neither the doctors nor the patients were aware of who was given what drug, double-blinding the test.
Patients on either drug were shown to begin remission at around three months. Although the test did not prove that Rituxan was a significantly better treatment in comparison to cyclophosphamide, it did show that both drugs had similar benefits. Because of this, and because of Rituxan's reputation for causing fewer and less harmful side effects, Rituxan may prove to be the better drug.
Some patients could suffer from terrible infections and women are at a high risk for infertility. With the certain probability of experiencing such terrible side effects, researchers from hospitals around the country, including Hopkins's Vasculitis Center, have been working to find a new treatment for ANCA-associated vasculitis.
Rituxan, a Genentech-manufactured drug that is currently used to treat non-Hodgkins B cell lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, was discovered to effectively treat ANCA-associated vasculitis as well. Spiera considers this finding to be very significant, and pointed out that Rituxan causes fewer side effects, inclduing secondary cancers, than cyclophosphamide.
Investigators, including the Mayo Clinic's Ulrick Specks, M.D. and Massachusetts General Hospital's John Stone, M.D., M.P.H, found that the alleviating effects of Rituxan were at least equivalent to, if not slightly better than, the effects of cyclophosphamide.
Nine centers where the study was conducted enrolled 197 patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. The patients were randomly chosen to receive either the standard cyclophosphamide treatment or the experimental Rituxan drug for one year.
Neither the doctors nor the patients were aware of who was given what drug, double-blinding the test.
Patients on either drug were shown to begin remission at around three months. Although the test did not prove that Rituxan was a significantly better treatment in comparison to cyclophosphamide, it did show that both drugs had similar benefits. Because of this, and because of Rituxan's reputation for causing fewer and less harmful side effects, Rituxan may prove to be the better drug.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Kathleen Bacon
posted 10/30/09 @ 9:06 PM EST
I have both CSS and MS. I have experienced an adverse reaction to copaxone due to the fact that I have both autoimmune diseases. Has Rituxan ever been given to a person with both diseases? Right now I am on Prednisone (IV and oral) and CellCept. (Continued…)
todd brusa
posted 12/06/09 @ 8:42 PM EST
Hi Kathleen, I can't answer your question because I just got diagnosed with CSS and I am 41yrs old.
I am on 90mg of prednisone and that isn't working so they are adding cytoxan. (Continued…)
former blue jay
posted 12/09/09 @ 11:58 AM EST
i was diagnosed with vasculitis during my freshman year at Hopkins eight years ago. Thank you so much for writing this article as the disease is uncommon among young people and was very difficult to explain to other students and professors at the time, especially those who didn't understand the side effects of the treatment for an otherwise invisible disease. (Continued…)
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