The LIST Study
LIST studies are giving new hope to those suffering from lupus. Those who suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus know that this is a disease of the immune system, which causes the body to attack its own organs and tissue. There currently is no known cure for this disease though with proper treatment, a lupus sufferer can try and lead a fairly normal life. The National Institute of Health states that there is an 80 to 90 percent survival rate of lupus patients ten years after their initial diagnosis of the disease. Kidney damage is also seen in up to fifty percent of lupus cases, which can lead to death in lupus patients.
What is LIST?
The National Institute of Health is trying to improve the treatment and understanding of this disease by the LIST study. LIST stands for Lupus Immunosuppressive Therapy/Stem Cell Research, a long explanation for such a short acronym. This study is only open to those who suffer from SLE, which is the most common and most devastating of the different kinds or lupus. The basis of the study is to learn if stem cell transplantation can make a difference with this disease.
What is the LIST Study?
The LIST study will be limited to only one hundred people. Some will belong to the stem cell group, and others will be part of the control group that will continue to be treated with the normal medications and therapies currently available. They will be closely monitored for two and a half years, though the study will last for five years. Those who are in the stem cell transplant group will have their own stem cells removed and then put back in after they have undergone a certain amount of chemotherapy. The hope is that this chemotherapy will go a long way to killing the harmful immune cells and that then transplanting the stem cells will make new healthy immune cells. The LIST study hopes that these will not then become harmful immune cells again, once they are back inside the body.
The researchers in this project will be very selective of who they will allow to be in this study. The participants must be no younger than eighteen, and not older than sixty. They must have an advanced case of lupus, have continued progression of their disease and be on certain medications to be considered. They must not have HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, most types of cancer, or be pregnant.
History of LIST
The first LIST study was conducted in 1997 and results are still being studied. Fifty patients were involved in this previous study, with forty-eight proceeding to the transplant stage. The five-year survival rate of this study was 84 percent. The functions of the patient’s organs showed overall improvement and the study showed that fifty percent of patients appeared to be disease free after five years. That is a major medical accomplishment. This latest test is hoping for even better results.
The Life Issues Institute also shows similar results. Fifty percent of the patients studied had complete or at least partial remission of their SLE. The other advantage to this therapy is that the patient’s own stem cells are used which nullifies any rejection concerns. It is hoped that the LIST studies will further lupus research and discover a possible source of a cure for lupus patients.
