Alemtuzumab to Treat Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis

Summary

This study will examine the safety and effectiveness of alemtuzumab (Campath® (Registered Trademark)) for improving muscle strength in patients with sporadic inclusion body myositis (s-IBM). The most common inflammatory muscle disease in people over the age of 50, s-IBM progresses steadily, leading to severe weakness and wasting of the muscles in the arms and legs. The cause of s-IBM is not known, but it may be an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune cells (white blood cells) attack and destroy parts of muscle. Alemtuzumab is a laboratory-made antibody currently approved to treat certain leukemias. It has also been used to treat patients with autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, multiple sclerosis, and tissue rejection associated with transplantation. Alemtuzumab destroys white blood cells that have a protein called CD52 on their surface and that might be among the cells attacking muscle. Patients with s-IBM are eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with physical and neurological examinations, blood tests, and an electrocardiogram. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures: * Campath administration: Patients are admitted to the NIH Clinical Center for 1 to 1-1/2 weeks for intravenous infusions of Campath, given every other day for a total of 4 infusions. * Follow-up visits after infusions: Patients are monitored for up to 1 year with periodic blood tests, physical and neurological examinations, medical history, muscle strength measurements, and a review of symptoms, including the ability to perform daily living activities. * Lymphapheresis: Patients undergo this procedure for collecting large numbers of white blood cells twice - once at the beginning of the study and again after 6 months. Blood is removed through a needle in an arm vein and flows through a machine that separates it into its components by centrifugation (spinning). The white cells and plasma are removed and the red cells and platelets are returned to the patients through the same needle or through another needle in the other arm. * Muscle biopsy: Muscle biopsies are done in the operating room under local anesthetic. A small incision is made in the thigh or upper arm and a small piece of muscle is removed. Biopsies are done at the beginning of the study and again after 6 months.

Timeline

Start

2004-03

Primary completion

2007-03

Completion

2007-03

Outcome

Met primary endpoint

paper Six months after therapy, the overall decline was only 1.9% (P < 0.002), corresponding to a 13% differential gain. PMID 19454532 ↗

Publications

• Background Dalakas MC. Polymyositis, dermatomyositis and inclusion-body myositis. N Engl J Med. 1991 Nov 21;325(21):1487-98. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199111213252107. No abstract available.
• Background Dalakas MC, Sonies B, Dambrosia J, Sekul E, Cupler E, Sivakumar K. Treatment of inclusion-body myositis with IVIg: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Neurology. 1997 Mar;48(3):712-6. doi: 10.1212/wnl.48.3.712.
• Background Dalakas MC, Koffman B, Fujii M, Spector S, Sivakumar K, Cupler E. A controlled study of intravenous immunoglobulin combined with prednisone in the treatment of IBM. Neurology. 2001 Feb 13;56(3):323-7. doi: 10.1212/wnl.56.3.323.
• Dalakas MC, Rakocevic G, Schmidt J, Salajegheh M, McElroy B, Harris-Love MO, Shrader JA, Levy EW, Dambrosia J, Kampen RL, Bruno DA, Kirk AD. Effect of Alemtuzumab (CAMPATH 1-H) in patients with inclusion-body myositis. Brain. 2009 Jun;132(Pt 6):1536-44. doi: 10.1093/brain/awp104. Epub 2009 May 19.

Drugs

Indications