TY - GEN
T1 - Status of the thymectomy trial for nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis patients receiving prednisone
AU - Newsom-Davis, John
AU - Cutter, Gary
AU - Wolfe, Gil I.
AU - Kaminski, Henry J.
AU - Jaretzki, Alfred
AU - Minisman, Greg
AU - Aban, Inmaculada
AU - Conwit, Robin
PY - 2008/6
Y1 - 2008/6
N2 - The primary study [MGTX] aims to answer three questions: does extended transsternal thymectomy combined with the prednisone protocol, when compared with the prednisone protocol alone: (1) result in a greater improvement in myasthenic weakness, (2) result in a lower total dose of prednisone, thus decreasing the likelihood of concurrent and long-term toxic effects, (3) enhance the quality of life by reducing adverse events and symptoms associated with the therapies? Inclusion criteria are MGFA Class 2, 3, or 4; acetylcholine receptor antibody positive; age at least 18.0 years and <60.0 years; MG history of <3 years. Patients can be prednisone naïve or not. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded funding for MGTX in September 2005, and NIH awarded funding for the ancillary Biomarkers study (BioMG) in February 2006. Diverse regulatory obstacles have been encountered in this international study, but we now have a total of over 70 centers in 22 countries (North America, South America, Europe, Australasia, South Africa) either actively recruiting or at various levels of readiness.
AB - The primary study [MGTX] aims to answer three questions: does extended transsternal thymectomy combined with the prednisone protocol, when compared with the prednisone protocol alone: (1) result in a greater improvement in myasthenic weakness, (2) result in a lower total dose of prednisone, thus decreasing the likelihood of concurrent and long-term toxic effects, (3) enhance the quality of life by reducing adverse events and symptoms associated with the therapies? Inclusion criteria are MGFA Class 2, 3, or 4; acetylcholine receptor antibody positive; age at least 18.0 years and <60.0 years; MG history of <3 years. Patients can be prednisone naïve or not. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded funding for MGTX in September 2005, and NIH awarded funding for the ancillary Biomarkers study (BioMG) in February 2006. Diverse regulatory obstacles have been encountered in this international study, but we now have a total of over 70 centers in 22 countries (North America, South America, Europe, Australasia, South Africa) either actively recruiting or at various levels of readiness.
KW - Myasthenia gravis
KW - Prednisone
KW - Thymectomy
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/45249121569
U2 - 10.1196/annals.1405.014
DO - 10.1196/annals.1405.014
M3 - Conference contribution
C2 - 18567886
AN - SCOPUS:45249121569
SN - 9781573316873
T3 - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
SP - 344
EP - 347
BT - Myasthenia Gravis and Related Disorders 11th International Conference
PB - Blackwell Publishing Inc.
ER -