Clinical Trial for Sirolimus Launching Summer 2019!

The first USA clinical trial for a Castleman disease treatment in 8 years!

07/26/2019 A new clinical trial will evaluate the effectiveness of sirolimus (rapamycin) in idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) patients that did not sufficiently respond to, or relapsed on, anti-IL6 treatment (siltuximab or tocilizumab). Co-Founders of the CDCN, Dr. David Fajgenbaum at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Frits van Rhee at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, are leading this ground-breaking trial.

Recruiting participants

The trial will seek up to 24 participants to enroll at either the University of Pennsylvania or the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and patients from anywhere in the world may travel to these sites to enroll. Patient recruitment is anticipated to begin in August 2019. Please email CDtrial@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or call 267-586-9977 (UPenn Biobank Phone) for more information. Patients can also learn more about this trial at cdcn.org/trial. The trial has been posted to the federal registry for all clinical trials here.

About sirolimus

Sirolimus is currently FDA-approved to prevent rejection in kidney transplant patients by inhibiting the mTOR protein complex, and researchers have reason to believe that inhibiting that same complex may also help CD patients. Trials like this have two primary goals: to identify a potential new treatment to improve the lives of CD patients, and to evaluate the results of the study to better understand CD and spur the development of more treatment options down the road. The CDCN is very excited for this opportunity to potentially identify another therapy for Castleman patients that do not respond to siltuximab.

Thank you to our patients and loved ones

This potential new avenue for iMCD treatment would not have been possible without the contributions of our entire community—CD patients donating samples and clinical data into ACCELERATE, our physician and researcher collaborative network, and generous donors and Castleman Warriors—whose contributions supported the research that laid the groundwork for this trial. Please consider donating to the CDCN today to help keep this momentum going!

  • Interested in donating to the CDCN to help fund high-impact Castleman disease research? Donate here!
  • Interested in donating medical records for the ACCELERATE Natural History registry? Learn more here!
  • Interested in donating tissue samples to be used for high-impact research? Thank you! Learn more here!
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