Sirolimus in the Treatment of Refractory/Relapsed wAIHA

August 6, 2025 updated by: Chen Miao, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Sirolimus in the Treatment of Refractory/Relapsed Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA)： a Phase 2 Prospective Trial

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a rare and heterogeneous disorder characterized by the destruction of red blood cells through warm or cold antibodies. Glucocorticoid (combined with rituximab) is the first-line treatment. However, the recurrence rate is very high and some patients may not respond to steroids. Second-line therapies include cyclosporine A (CsA), cyclophosphamide, rituximab, azathioprine, and even splenectomy. Our previous study of sirolimus in refractory/relapsed AIHA and ES found an effective rate of 80%. Therefore, the investigators plan to explore the efficacy and safety of sirolimus in the treatment of refractory/relapsed wAIHA.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Based on the optimal autoantibody-RBC reactivity temperatures, AIHA is classified into warm type, cold type, and mixed type. AIHA can be further classified into primary or secondary in nature. Glucocorticoid (combined with rituximab) is the first-line treatment. However, the recurrence rate is very high and some patients may not respond to steroids. Second-line therapies include cyclosporine A (CsA), cyclophosphamide, rituximab, azathioprine, and even splenectomy. The refractory/relapsed wAIHA patients have increased cardiovascular events, increased opportunities for infections, decreased quality of life, and even death. A prospective multi-institutional trial in autoimmune cytopenia found that 8 of 10 patients with AIHA and Evans syndrome respond to sirolimus. Our previous study of sirolimus in refractory/relapsed AIHA and ES also found an effective rate of approximately 80%. Since sirolimus is cheap and accessible, our findings may reduce the economic burden of patients and be a guide on the selection of second-line treatment drugs in refractory/relapsed wAIHA and Evans syndrome.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
22

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Beijing
      • Beijing, Beijing, China, 100730
        • Recruiting
        • Peking Union Medical College Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age ≥18 years old.
  2. Diagnosed as primary warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia or Evans syndrome (primary or secondary). There is no treatment indication of other systemic involvement in the original disease if secondary.
  3. No response to glucocorticoid therapy or recurrence.
  4. Baseline liver (ALT, AST) was less than 2 times the normal value.
  5. No active infection; Not pregnant or breastfeeding.
  6. Agree to sign the consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with connective tissue disease or other organs involvement
  2. Infection or bleeding that cannot be controlled by standard treatment.
  3. Active HIV, HCV or HBV infection or cirrhosis or portal hypertension.
  4. Progressed uncontrolled malignant tumors and lymphoma
  5. Cirrhosis or portal hypertension.
  6. Pregnant or breastfeeding.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Sirolimus on refractory/relapsed wAIHA
A prospective research of the sirolimus efficiency on refractory/relapsed primary wAIHA patients. Sirolimus dosage: 1-3 mg/d with plasma concentration 4-15ng/mL. Medication time should last at least 6 months. After reaching the optimal response, responders continue to use sirolimus for 1 year, and then gradually reduce the dosage.
Drug: Sirolimus
Oral administration, 1-3 mg/d, sirolimus plasma concentration: 4-15 ng/mL

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall response rate (ORR) and complete response rate (CRR)
Time Frame: 3,6,12 months
ORR defined as the proportion of patients who met the criteria of either complete response (CR) or partial response (PR).
3,6,12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of participants with treatment-related adverse events and the number of relapses
Time Frame: 12 months, end of the follow-up
Number of participants with treatment-related adverse events and the number of relapses
12 months, end of the follow-up
Adverse events
Time Frame: 3,6,12 months
Safety analyses include assessments of the incidence and severity of adverse events; all adverse events that occurred or worsened during the treatment period will be reported, as well as adverse events that occurred later but are considered by the investigator to be related to the trial drug.
3,6,12 months
Relapse rate
Time Frame: 3,6,12 months
Relapse rate defined as the proportion of patients whose response shift from PR or CR to no response (NR).
3,6,12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 24, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 21, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 21, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 29, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 8, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 6, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Sirolimus-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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