Clinical Research Directory

UVA-1 for Treatment of Skin Tightening and Improvement of Hand Function in Scleroderma

UVA-1 has been reported to be beneficial to skin changes in scleroderma in several case reports and a few small studies. (Jacobe 2020) Interpretation of these reports has been difficult based on the small numbers of subjects involved and the non-blinded non-randomized nature of the reports. In a single controlled study with half-side comparison of 9 patients, the investigators could not demonstrate improvement with UVA-1 in the treated hand. (Thomas 2007) This study was limited by a small number of patients and the long disease duration prior to treatment (mean of 13 years). A more recent report of a patient with scleroderma for 2.5 years and severe acrosclerosis that responded to 21 sessions of UVA-1 with improved mobility and functionality renews interest in this treatment modality. (Cuenca-Barrales 2019) In this trial patients will be randomized to have their dominant or non-dominant hand undergo 30 sessions of UVA1 therapy. We will assess patient's hand mobility, hand function, skin hardening (assessed by durometer measurements), skin thickness, as well as patient reported outcomes to determine efficacy. This study will use a single-blind, prospective, randomized (dominant/non-dominant hand) comparator design to assess the effect of high dose (80-120 J/cm2) UVA1 therapy on hand function in scleroderma in a paired t-test design. This study is a randomized, investigator-blinded, intra-patient, UV-blocking glove-controlled clinical trial. A follow up period of 12 months following completion of UVA1 therapy will prospectively follow patients to monitor for relapse of their disease to assess the durability of the clinical response to UVA1 therapy on hand scleroderma.

Cross-cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Localised Scleroderma Quality of Life Instrument (LoSQI) in Juvenile Localised Scleroderma (JLS)

This international study adapts and validates the Localised Scleroderma Quality of Life Instrument (LoSQI) for children with JLS, a rare condition causing hardened skin and tissue. Goals \& Methods: Workstream 1: Translates and culturally adapts LoSQI for multi-national use, pre-testing it with patients and families. Workstream 2: Validates the tool through a prospective study of at least 100 patients across global centers (PRINTO, CARRA, PRES). Impact: It creates the first multi-national, disease-specific Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) for JLS, helping researchers combine global data and embedding quality-of-life tracking into routine clinical care.

Rare Disease Patient Registry & Natural History Study - Coordination of Rare Diseases at Sanford

The Coordination of Rare Diseases at Sanford (CoRDS) is an international patient registry that serves as a centralized resource for rare disease research. Individuals affected by rare diseases, undiagnosed conditions, and disorders of unknown prevalence may voluntarily contribute health information to support natural history studies, participant recruitment, and other research efforts. Through partnerships with patient advocacy organizations and researchers worldwide, CoRDS helps connect rare disease communities with research opportunities while advancing knowledge across more than 7,000 rare diseases. Participation is free of charge.

A Clinical Study on Systemic Sclerosis and the Validation of French-language Questionnaires Assessing Disability, Quality of Life, and Disease Status.

The main objective of this study is to validate, in French, new questionnaires assessing disability, quality of life, and patient-reported outcomes in systemic sclerosis.

RESET-SSc: An Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of CABA-201, a CD19-CAR T Cell Therapy, in Subjects With Systemic Sclerosis

RESET-SSc: A Phase 1/2 Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of CABA-201, a CD19-CAR T cell therapy, in Subjects with Systemic Sclerosis

Personalized Online Occupational Therapy Intervention for Adults With Scleroderma

This pilot exploratory randomized controlled trial will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of a personalized online occupational therapy intervention for adults with scleroderma in Spain. Participants will be individually randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either an online occupational therapy intervention added to usual care or usual care alone. The intervention consists of eight individual online occupational therapy sessions delivered over four weeks, with two sessions per week, plus individualized materials. The control group will continue with usual care during the intervention and follow-up period. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and four weeks after the end of the intervention. The primary outcome is feasibility, defined as the proportion of participants in the intervention group who complete at least six of the eight planned sessions. Secondary and exploratory outcomes include acceptability, adherence, safety, technical feasibility, functioning, quality of life, occupational balance, hand function, and individual goal attainment.

A Phase 1/2 Study of PRO-203 in Healthy Volunteers and Participants With Systemic Sclerosis.

A two-part study of PRO-203 administered subcutaneously in healthy adult volunteers and participants with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc).

Determine Effectiveness of Anifrolumab In SYstemic Sclerosis (DAISY)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with subcutaneous anifrolumab versus placebo in adult participants with systemic sclerosis. The target population for this study includes patients who meet the 2013 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) classification for systemic sclerosis, either limited or diffuse cutaneous subsets, with a disease duration of less than 6 years from first non-Raynaud's phenomenon symptom.

Sildenafil for Early Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Scleroderma

This is a Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sildenafil in men and women with Scleroderma with mildly elevated pulmonary pressures (SSc-MEP) to determine whether sildenafil may be an effective treatment for SSc-MEP.

A Biospecimen Collection Study to Identify the Targets of Disease-Reactive T Cells in Patients With Autoimmune Disease

The most clinically meaningful way to discover new targets of T cells in autoimmune diseases is to study the tissues of patients with active autoimmune disease mediated organ inflammation. These tissues contain both cytotoxic and helper T cells that are driving their disease, and these T cells are being guided by TCRs that recognize tissue-specific targets. By collecting tissue when a patient has active inflammation, it is possible to determine which T cells are activated and undergoing clonal expansion in the patient's diseased organ. TScan has developed a genome-wide, high-throughput technology to determine the natural, physiological target of any TCR (Kula, 2019). The goal of this study is to isolate T cells from inflamed tissues and matched blood samples and/or matched normal tissues (for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases). T cell clones that are expanded in diseased tissues relative to blood or normal tissues will be selected and the targets of their TCRs will be defined using TScan's genome-wide, high-throughput target ID technology. The goal of this study is to discover a collection of peptide targets, along with their associated TCRs to be developed as new tolerogenic therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases.

Evaluating Tools to Communicate Scleroderma Research Results to Patients - Trial #1

Sharing research results with patients is required by ethical regulations. Yet, most researchers do not share results from their studies with patients. The investigators plan to conduct a series of randomized controlled trials among people with scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease, in a large international cohort, to identify the most effective methods for communicating study results with patients. The first trial in the series will compare a research dissemination tool (infographic) against a plain-language summary comparator. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive the dissemination tool or comparator. Study participants will rate communication tools for (1) information completeness; (2) understandability; and (3) ease of use of format. Our results can be used by researchers and patient organizations who disseminate research results so that they can tailor the way they disseminate results to patient needs.

Platform Clinical Study for Conquering Scleroderma

The goal of this clinical trial is to test efficacy of different investigational products (IPs) compared with placebo on the change from baseline to the end of the treatment period at Week 52 in lung capacity in participants with Interstitial Lung Disease Secondary to Systemic Sclerosis.

TENS in Scleroderma

The goal of this pilot study is to assess the acceptability of the transcutaneous electrical acustimulation (TEA) device in treating Scleroderma-related gastroparesis. The main objective is: To evaluate the acceptability of TEA as an intervention for alleviating symptoms of distension and bloating in individuals diagnosed with Scleroderma. Participants will be provided with the TEA devices that will be applied to the skin for a total of 45 minutes twice daily after meals. Participants will be asked to fill out both daily diaries and biweekly questionnaires to assess for improvement in the gastroparesis symptoms. Participants will also be asked to complete the daily diaries in addition weekly questionnaires during a 4 week post-treatment follow-up period.

Efficacy and Safety of HN2301 in Autoimmune Diseases（AIDs）

This is an open lable and single arm study, is designed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of HN2301 in Autoimmune Disease（AID）

AlloNK®, an Allogeneic Non-genetically Modified, Cord Blood-derived NK Cell Therapy, in Combination With Rituximab, Studied in Relapsing Forms of B-cell Dependent Rheumatologic Diseases.

A Basket Trial of Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Sjögren's Disease (SjD), Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies (IIMs) and Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) subjects to evaluate the safety and efficacy of AlloNK, a non-genetically modified allogeneic NK cell, in combination with rituximab.

Tibulizumab Systemic Sclerosis Understanding and Response Evaluation (TibuSURE)

The study is a Phase 2, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the effects of tibulizumab over 24 weeks (Period 1) in adult participants with systemic sclerosis, followed by an open-label extension period where all active participants will receive tibulizumab and will be evaluated for an additional 28 weeks (Period 2)

Preventive Effect of Clopidogrel on the Systemic Sclerosis Development Risk

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a severe autoimmune disease associating dysimmunity, vasculopathy and fibrosis. No curative treatment is available. Pre-clinical abnormalities can be found such as specific autoantibodies. The association of Raynaud phenomenon and SSc-specific anti-nuclear antibodies is the hallmark of pre-scleroderma subjects, among who around 47% declare a complete disease after five years. The aim of this study is to assess in this particular population the preventive effect of an anti-platelet treatment.

Skeletal Muscle Function in Interstitial Lung Disease

Dyspnea (i.e. breathlessness) and exercise intolerance are common symptoms for patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD), yet it is not known why. It has been suggested that muscle dysfunction may contribute to dyspnea and exercise intolerance in ILD. Our study aims to: i) examine differences in the structure and function of the leg muscles in ILD patients, ii) determine if leg muscle fatigue contributes to dyspnea and exercise limitation in patients with ILD, and iii) determine the effects of breathing extra oxygen on leg muscle fatigue, as well as ability to exercise in ILD patients.

Brentuximab Vedotin for Systemic Sclerosis

There is significant unmet need for effective treatment options for Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis (dcSSc). The present study will be a dose-escalation safety trial of brentuximab vedotin, a drug-antibody conjugate approved for the treatment of lymphoma and targeted to the protein CD30 molecule expressed on activated immune cells There is evidence for CD30 involvement in SSc. This study represents the first step in determining safety and tolerability of brentuximab vedotin in SSc.

MRI for Screening and Monitoring Scleroderma ILD

The purpose of this study is to test MRI methods for evaluating patients with Scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease.

Elastography Ultrasound in Localized Scleroderma (Morphea) Study

Localized scleroderma (LS) is a skin disease that can cause complications such as disfigurement and limitation of mobility. Treatment for LS should be initiated early in the disease, as late-stage scleroderma does not respond well to treatment. Objective tools for diagnosis and follow-up of treatment for LS are not available clinically and are urgently needed. A new non-invasive ultrasound technique called "elastography" measures stiffness of tissues and holds potential for providing objective measures for follow-up of treatment of LS in children and adolescents. The team plans to conduct a multicenter study in North America to determine whether elastography ultrasound can show changes in skin stiffness for a period of 9 to 12 months after initiation of treatment for LS. This novel technology may add information to the existing imperfect clinical tools, thus improving the way therapy is offered to patients with LS.

Brain Boost Program to Improve Cognitive Function in People With Systemic Sclerosis

The purpose of this study is to examine whether an 8-week online educational group-based program tailored to people with systemic sclerosis can help improve cognitive function and well-being. The study team hypothesize that participants that receive the intervention will have better improvements immediately after treatment at week 8 in all cognitive function measures, non-cognitive symptoms, and self-management compared to those in the waitlist control.

Hyaluronidase Via LADD Scleroderma-induced Microstomia

Two treatment methods, ablative carbon dioxide (CO2) laser and intradermal hyaluronidase, will be combined to maximize the beneficial potential of each. Laser-assisted drug delivery (LADD) has been shown to be effective for the administration of medications in diverse skin diseases but not previously reported for the treatment of scleroderma-induced microstomia. By using this laser technique, the investigator can reduce the pain of typical hyaluronidase injections and reap the therapeutic benefit of the laser treatment itself. The investigator's goal is to create greater mouth mobility for chewing and speaking as well as improved oral hygiene, self-esteem, and overall quality of life. Each participant will undergo three separate laser sessions at 4 to 8-week intervals. Participants will also complete a follow-up visit three months after the last laser session to evaluate the response.

Clinico-biological Collection to Investigate the Physiopathology of Systemic Autoimmune Diseases

The aim of this project is to start a biological and clinical collection of patients presenting systemic autoimmune disease. This collection will provide appropriate biological samples to identify new biomarkers and to be accessible to the medical, scientific and industrial communities for the identification of new therapeutic strategies