{"id":43431,"date":"2017-02-02T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/?p=43431"},"modified":"2017-02-03T08:08:10","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T13:08:10","slug":"multiple-drug-approach-could-prevent-sickle-cell-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2017\/02\/02\/multiple-drug-approach-could-prevent-sickle-cell-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Multiple Drug Approach Could Prevent Sickle Cell Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"COM_mhs\"
Martin Steinberg, MD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an editorial in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>, Martin Steinberg, MD, professor of medicine, BUSM, stresses the need for a multi-pronged approach to treating sickle-cell disease in order to prevent these harmful episodes.<\/p>\n

Sickle cell disease is characterized by recurrent episodes of \u201csickle crisis,\u201d also known as vaso-occlusive crisis, in which a patient\u2019s red blood cells change shape, clump together and block the flow of blood in small vessels resulting in pain and organ damage.<\/p>\n

In a prior issue of the Journal<\/em>, researchers (Ataga et. al.) reported testing a novel antibody targeting P-selectin, a protein involved in the adhesive interactions between red blood cells and other cells that occur during vaso-occlusive crises. They found that the rate of sickle cell crisis was reduced by 45 percent among patients who received injections of the antibody, called crizanlizumab, compared to patients who received placebo injections.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreatment for sickle cell anemia is very limited and we welcome new treatments that could prevent disease complications,\u201d Steinberg <\/span>explained. \u201cIf ultimately approved, this treatment, or something similar to this, could improve life for patients with sickle cell anemia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Steinberg argues because there is no single proven treatment to eliminate sickle cell crisis, an approach involving multiple medications that target different processes in the pathogenesis may ultimately be more successful. \u201cTreatment for sickle cell anemia is now limited to a single drug, hydroxyurea, that helps most but not all patients. The trial showed that another drug, which works by a mechanism distinct from that of hydroxyurea, had beneficial effects and could be used alone or with hydroxyurea to prevent severe disease complications.\u201d<\/p>\n

He points out that although there was a decrease in vaso-occlusive events, perceived clinical benefit as measured by patient questionnaire was low. Despite this, Steinberg is hopeful that this new therapeutic approach using antiadhesive agents may ultimately become available for patients. \u201cThis was a very well done important study with clinically significant results that when confirmed and extended could lead to an important new treatment for sickle cell anemia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin Steinberg, MD, stresses the need for a multi-pronged approach to treating sickle-cell disease in order to prevent harmful episodes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12772,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91,90],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43431"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43681,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43431\/revisions\/43681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}