Daclizumab to Treat Wegener's Granulomatosis

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

This study will examine the safety and effectiveness of daclizumab (also called Zenapax or anti-CD25) in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis, a type of vasculitis (blood vessel inflammation). Wegener's granulomatosis can affect many parts of the body, including the brain, nerves, eyes, sinuses, lungs, kidneys, intestinal tract, skin, joints, heart, and other sites. Standard treatment is a combination of prednisone and a cytotoxic agent (a drug that interferes with cell growth), usually cyclophosphamide or methotrexate. However, many patients treated with this regimen have a disease relapse, and others cannot take these drugs because of severe side effects. This study will focus on the effectiveness of daclizumab in preventing disease relapse. The Food and Drug Administration approved daclizumab in 1997 for preventing kidney transplant rejection, and the drug has also been studied in people with an eye infection called uveitis. The drug works by binding to a protein on T lymphocytes (white blood cells of the immune system) called CD25. This prevents another protein, called interleukin-2, from binding to this site, thereby preventing a series of events that normally results in inflammation. Patients between 10 and 75 years of age with Wegener's granulomatosis may be eligible for this study. Participants will have a medical history review and physical examination, including laboratory studies. If medically indicated, x-rays, consultations and biopsies (surgical removal of a small tissue sample) of affected organs will also be conducted. All patients will begin treatment with prednisone and cyclophosphamide daily. Those who improve on this regimen will reduce the prednisone gradually and continue with cyclophosphamide until their disease is in remission. While taking cyclophosphamide, patients must have blood and urine tests done every 1 to 2 weeks. Those who achieve disease remission will stop cyclophosphamide and start taking methotrexate once a week, usually by mouth but possibly by injection into the muscle or skin. Blood and urine tests will be conducted once a week for 4 weeks while the dosage is being adjusted and then once a month for the duration of treatment. Patients on methotrexate whose prednisone dose is reduced to 10 to 30 mg every other day will be randomly assigned either to receive or not receive daclizumab in addition to the methotrexate. Daclizumab is given intravenously (through a plastic tube inserted into a vein) the day after the randomization, then again in 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and once a month for 18 months. All patients will continue to taper their prednisone dose until it is stopped. Methotrexate will continue for 2 years. Patients whose disease remains in remission at this time will decrease the methotrexate dose. If there is no active disease when both prednisone and methotrexate have been stopped, no further treatment will be given. If disease recurs at a later time, treatment will be reinstituted. The treatment will be determined by the severity of disease, other medical conditions, and history of side effects. Patients not randomized to daclizumab who relapse while still taking methotrexate may be offered re-treatment with daclizumab. Patients will be evaluated in the outpatient clinic every 4 to 8 weeks until randomization. Patients not taking daclizumab will be followed every 4 to 12 weeks; those taking the drug will be seen every 2 weeks for the first month, every month after that during the 18-month treatment period, and every 4 to 12 weeks until all medications stop. Follow-up evaluations include a physical examination, blood draws and, if medically indicated, X-rays. The total study duration is 60 to 70 months.

About this trial record page

What this page shows

Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00040248, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.

What this page does not do

No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.

Where the data comes from

Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.

Last refresh

Last update posted Mar 3, 2008 · Synced Sep 7, 2026

Related: full search, browse by condition, browse by drug or therapy, browse by sponsor, browse by U.S. city.