Medical News Today
Stem cell transplantation does not provide significant improvement for Crohn's disease, study finds
Published: 15 December 2015
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/304123.php?tw
Results from the Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation International Crohn's Disease (ASTIC) trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2015.16700 on December 15, 2015 show that autologous Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was not significantly better than conventional therapy at inducing sustained disease remission (clinical remission off all medical therapy for 3 months with no evidence of active disease on endoscopy and GI imaging) at one year in patients with treatment refractory Crohn's disease. However, exploratory analyses did demonstrate benefit of HSCT over conventional treatment that warrants further study. Thus, compared to the control group, significantly more HSCT patients were able to withdraw all immunosuppressive therapy for the three months prior to the primary endpoint. Furthermore, at the primary endpoint, numerically (but not significantly) more patients undergoing HSCT had been in clinical remission for 3 months and were free of disease on endoscopic / radiological assessment (p= 0.054). Importantly, there were significant benefits of HSCT compared to conventional treatment in the absolute reduction of clinical and endoscopic disease activity.
Nearly everybody has had an attack of gastroenteritis at some time, and will remember the dreadful pain and diarrhoea it causes. Patients with Crohn's disease have this experience every day, with the problem starting at a young age, persisting on a lifelong basis and accompanied by malnutrition, fatigue and ill health. About one in 200 people in developed countries suffer from Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis. Crohn disease is one of life's most challenging chronic diseases. Although there have been major advances in understanding and treatment recently, some patients are resistant to all treatments and lead lives that are severely curtailed and of poor quality.
It was to address the needs of such patients that the ASTIC trial was set up. It is a unique ground- breaking collaborative project conducted by leading entities in the fields of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Gastro-enterology: the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the European Crohn ́s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) and funded by the Broad Medical Foundation and the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centres.
Stem cell transplantation does not provide significant improvement for Crohn's disease, study finds
Published: 15 December 2015
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/304123.php?tw
Results from the Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation International Crohn's Disease (ASTIC) trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2015.16700 on December 15, 2015 show that autologous Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was not significantly better than conventional therapy at inducing sustained disease remission (clinical remission off all medical therapy for 3 months with no evidence of active disease on endoscopy and GI imaging) at one year in patients with treatment refractory Crohn's disease. However, exploratory analyses did demonstrate benefit of HSCT over conventional treatment that warrants further study. Thus, compared to the control group, significantly more HSCT patients were able to withdraw all immunosuppressive therapy for the three months prior to the primary endpoint. Furthermore, at the primary endpoint, numerically (but not significantly) more patients undergoing HSCT had been in clinical remission for 3 months and were free of disease on endoscopic / radiological assessment (p= 0.054). Importantly, there were significant benefits of HSCT compared to conventional treatment in the absolute reduction of clinical and endoscopic disease activity.
Nearly everybody has had an attack of gastroenteritis at some time, and will remember the dreadful pain and diarrhoea it causes. Patients with Crohn's disease have this experience every day, with the problem starting at a young age, persisting on a lifelong basis and accompanied by malnutrition, fatigue and ill health. About one in 200 people in developed countries suffer from Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis. Crohn disease is one of life's most challenging chronic diseases. Although there have been major advances in understanding and treatment recently, some patients are resistant to all treatments and lead lives that are severely curtailed and of poor quality.
It was to address the needs of such patients that the ASTIC trial was set up. It is a unique ground- breaking collaborative project conducted by leading entities in the fields of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Gastro-enterology: the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the European Crohn ́s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) and funded by the Broad Medical Foundation and the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centres.