(Press-News.org) Although rare there are several treatments available for cutaneus lupus erythematosus (CLE). However other options are needed for people who do not respond to medication or relapse. A new study into the thalidomide derivative lenalidomide, published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy, shows that treatment with lenalidomide is safe, with patients seeing an improvement in as little as two weeks.
There have been several small scale clinical studies into the use of thalidomide for CLE for the third of patients which do not respond to the standard therapy including steroids, antimalarials and immunosuppressive agents. Although thalidomide has a bad press because of its effects on embryonic development, properly administered it is an effective alternative treatment for several types of cancer and inflammatory conditions, albeit with severe side effects which can limit continuous use.
Lenalidomide has been suggested as a more potent, but less toxic, alternative, and previous studies on a small number of patients have had encouraging results. In order to examine the efficacy of lenalidomide more thoroughly researchers from Vall d´Hebron University Hospital Research Institute, Spain, initiated a phase II clinical study, following 15 people with CLE, for between 7 and 30 months, all of which had previously not responded to traditional therapy.
All but one of the people involved in the trial saw clinical improvement and most of these (86%) had complete response, reaching a CLASI score of 0. Three quarters of people who improved with lenalidomide relapsed within 2-8 weeks of the medication being stopped or reduced.
In this study side effects were minor. Only two people reported side effects - although for one person their gastrointestinal symptoms meant that they stopped taking lenalidomide after one week. For both people the side effects disappeared once they stopped taking the drug.
Dr Josep Ordi-Ros, lead author of the study, explained, "The small impact of side effects in this study compared to others, may be due to the low dose of lenalidomide used. We also did not see any of the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) effects reported in smaller studies, even after 15 months of follow up. Nevertheless this regime was very effective in reducing disfigurement due to CLE and was similar in effect to thalidomide but with lower toxicity."
While a phase II study is still comparatively small, its long length and the significant number of patients studied provides a firm basis for larger scale, randomized, clinical trials, and provides a more positive outlook for the use of lenalidomide in the treatment of CLE.
### Media contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3192 2370
Mob: +44 (0) 778 698 1967
Email: hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
Notes
1. Efficacy and safety of lenalidomide for refractory cutaneous lupus erythematosus.
Josefina Cortes-Hernandez, Gabriela Avila, Miquel Vilardell-Tarres and Josep Ordi-Ros
Arthritis Research & Therapy (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2. Arthritis Research & Therapy is an international, peer-reviewed online journal, publishing original research, reviews, commentaries and reports. The major focus of the journal is on cellular and molecular mechanisms of arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions and systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases and translation of this knowledge into advances in clinical care. Original basic, translational laboratory and clinical research is considered for publication along with results of therapeutic trials.
3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
Lenalidomide offers an effective alternative treatment for cutaneus lupus erythematosus
2012-12-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Experts show that diets lower in fat lead to reductions in weight and BMI
2012-12-07
Research: Effect of reducing total fat intake on body weight: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies
The ideal proportion of total fat in the human diet is unclear. But reducing overall fat in the typical diet can lead to small reductions in body weight in adults that could be highly significant on a population-wide scale, a study published today on bmj.com reveals.
The optimal intake of total fat was recently debated at the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations / World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) ...
University of East Anglia research proves low fat diet is key to a slimmer figure
2012-12-07
Findings published today in the British Medical Journal show that exchanging fatty foods for lower fat alternatives will help people shift around three-and-a-half pounds - without dieting. People taking part in trials also saw their waist-lines become slimmer, and levels of bad cholesterol decrease.
The results prove for the first time that weight loss can happen without trying to lose weight – simply by choosing foods lower in fat.
The report was commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG) Subgroup on Diet ...
Moths wired two ways to take advantage of floral potluck
2012-12-07
Moths are able to enjoy a pollinator's buffet of flowers – in spite of being among the insect world's picky eaters – because of two distinct "channels" in their brains, scientists at the University of Washington and University of Arizona have discovered.
One olfactory channel governs innate preferences of the palm-sized hawk moths that were studied – insects capable of traveling miles in a single night in search of favored blossoms. The other allows them to learn about alternate sources of nectar when their first choices are not available.
For moths, the ability to ...
New study sheds light on how Salmonella spreads in the body
2012-12-07
Findings of Cambridge scientists, published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens, show a new mechanism used by bacteria to spread in the body with the potential to identify targets to prevent the dissemination of the infection process.
Salmonella enterica is a major threat to public health, causing systemic diseases (typhoid and paratyphoid fever), gastroenteritis and non-typhoidal septicaemia (NTS) in humans and in many animal species worldwide. In the natural infection, salmonellae are typically acquired from the environment by oral ingestion of contaminated water ...
Neuroscientists prove ultrasound can be tweaked to stimulate different sensations
2012-12-07
A century after the world's first ultrasonic detection device – invented in response to the sinking of the Titanic – Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have provided the first neurophysiological evidence for something that researchers have long suspected: ultrasound applied to the periphery, such as the fingertips, can stimulate different sensory pathways leading to the brain.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The discovery carries implications for diagnosing and treating neuropathy, which affects millions of people around the world.
"Ideally, ...
Researchers craft tool to minimize threat of endocrine disruptors in new chemicals
2012-12-07
Researchers from North Carolina State University, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a host of other institutions have developed a safety testing system to help chemists design inherently safer chemicals and processes.
The innovative "TiPED" testing system (Tiered Protocol for Endocrine Disruption) stems from a cross-disciplinary collaboration among scientists, and can be applied at different phases of the chemical design process. The goal of the system is to help steer companies away from inadvertently creating harmful products, and thus avoid ...
Autistic adults report significant shortcomings in their health care
2012-12-07
PORTLAND, Ore. — Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have found that adults with autism, who represent about 1 percent of the adult population in the United States, report significantly worse health care experiences than their non-autistic counterparts.
"Like other adults, adults on the autism spectrum need to use health care services to prevent and treat illness. As a primary care provider, I know that our health care system is not always set up to offer high-quality care to adults on the spectrum; however, I was saddened to see how large the disparities ...
Unlocking the genetic mysteries behind stillbirth
2012-12-07
Galveston, Texas — Stillbirth is a tragedy that occurs in one of every 160 births in the United States. Compounding the sadness for many families, the standard medical test used to examine fetal chromosomes often can't pin down what caused their baby to die in utero. In most cases, the cause of the stillbirth is not immediately known. The traditional way to determine what happened is to examine the baby's chromosomes using a technique called karyotyping. This method leaves much to be desired because, in many cases, it fails to provide any result at all. Today, some 25 to ...
Different genes behind same adaptation to thin air
2012-12-07
Highlanders in Tibet and Ethiopia share a biological adaptation that enables them to thrive in the low oxygen of high altitudes, but the ability to pass on the trait appears to be linked to different genes in the two groups, research from a Case Western Reserve University scientist and colleagues shows.
The adaptation is the ability to maintain a relatively low (for high altitudes) level of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. Members of ethnic populations - such as most Americans - who historically live at low altitudes naturally respond to the ...
Deception can be perfected
2012-12-07
EVANSTON, Ill. --- With a little practice, one could learn to tell a lie that may be indistinguishable from the truth.
New Northwestern University research shows that lying is more malleable than previously thought, and with a certain amount of training and instruction, the art of deception can be perfected.
People generally take longer and make more mistakes when telling lies than telling the truth, because they are holding two conflicting answers in mind and suppressing the honest response, previous research has shown. Consequently, researchers in the present study ...