Immunology

Intravenous Gamma Globulin and/ or plasma excange for Gullain-Barre syndrome – pro

Guillain-Barr syndrome is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. Symptoms include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. Sometimes, the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms and upper body and progress to paralysis. There is no known cure for Guillain-Barr syndrome, but therapies can lessen the severity of the illness and accelerate the recovery in most patients.

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Remicade for Graft Versus Host Disease – pro

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an illness that appears in pa tients after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Acute disease usually manifests in the first one or two months after transplantation. It targets epidermal cells in the skin, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. It is graded I through IV on the basis of the severity of the disease. Chronic GVHD usually occurs more than three months after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. It

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Stem Cell transplant for Scleroderma – pro

Lay Summary: Stem cell transplantation in the hope of modifying disease activity in scleroderma is under active clinical investigational. Immunosuppressive agents such as cyclophosphamide have long been used to treat autoimmune disease, but the dose is often limited by bone marrow suppression. More than ten years ago several groups considered adopting the oncological approach of myeloablative therapy followed by haematological 'rescue' using either

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Beclomethasone for graft versus host disease – pro

The pathological and clinical findings of gastrointestinal (GI) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are similar to those of inflammatory bowel disease. Three previous studies had shown the safety and efficacy of the topical BDP for GI GVHD. It is possibe that it would function similarly for GVHD. Several small pahse IIs tudies suggest that it suppresses allogeneic immune responses in the gut without causing significant immunosuppression. This therapy

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Pet/CT or CT scanning for malignancy in dermatomyositis – pro

Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune disease that has a characteristic skin eruptionand may be  autoimmune; it is sometimes associated with malignancy. Because this is a rare disease, not much is known about this association and there are no guidelines to my knowledge, but experts often recommend CT scanning to exclude coexistent malignancy. A link between malignancy and DM is well established. Numerous case series and population-based studies have

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Daclizumab for Graft Versus Host disease – pro

Daclizumab (trade name Zenapax) is a therapeutic humanized monoclonal antibody to the alpha subunit of the IL-2 receptor of T cells. It is used to prevent rejection in organ transplantation, especially in kidney transplants.Daclizumab reduces the incidence and severity of acute rejection in kidney transplantation without increasing the incidence of opportunistic infections. This drug has been used to treat graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) in stem cell

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Stem cell transplantation for CIDP – pro

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) is an acquired immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nervous system. The pathologic hallmark of the disease is loss of the myelin sheath (the fatty covering that protects nerve fibers) of the peripheral nerves. First line treatment for CIDP includes corticosteroids (e.g. prednisone), plasmapheresis (plasma exchange) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) which may be prescribed

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Treatment of Langherhan’s Hystiocytosis and Revlimid – pro

Histiocytosis is a rare  disease that involves hystiocytes. The disease can range from limited involvement that spontaneously regresses to progressive multiorgan involvement that can be chronic and debilitating. In some cases, the disease can be life-threatening. It is approximated that histiocytosis affects 1 in 200,000 children born each year in the United States. The disease us rare and not much is known securely about how to treat it. Because

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Photopheresis for graft versus host disease – pro

The use of photopheresis or Extra Corporeal Perfusion (ECP) as a treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after a prior allogeneic stem cell transplant is based on the fact that GVHD is similar to autoimmune disease in that it too is an immunologically mediated disease. Chronic GVHD typically presents with more diverse symptomatology resembling autoimmune diseases such as progressive systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or rheumatoid

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IMC-A12 – pro

IMC-A12 (ImClone Systems Incorporated), a fully human monoclonal IgG1 antibody that binds with high affinity to the IGF-IR, inhibits ligand-dependent receptor activation and downstream signaling. IMC-A12 also mediates robust internalization and degradation of the IGF-IR. In human tumor xenograft models, IGF-IR blockade by IMC-A12 results in rapid and profound growth inhibition of cancers of the breast, lung, colon, and pancreas, and many other neoplasms.

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