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Home | News | Links | How to Help | Contact Us | Search Research highlights: Retisert steroid implant Study This study, originally started in 2001 was designed to test the safety and efficacy of the Retisert steroid implant that is implanted in the back of the eye and stays there, releasing steady amounts of corticosteroids over a period of two years. This has the advantage of not subjecting the patient to repeated injections. The study ended in October 2005, and Retisert is now FDA approved and on the market, available for purchase, as a result. Dr. Foster was one of the first ophthalmologists selected to test it, and it was placed in 25 of his patients. Dry Eye Study This sudy is due to start soon. It will involve the evaluation of the efficacy of a new molecule to treat dry eye syndrome. Denufosol Study This was designed to test the safety and efficacy of three doses of the novel molecule, denufosol, which stimulates certain receptors in the retina causing the retinal cells to ‘pump’ fluid out of the retina and eventually back into the bloodstream. In patients with macular edema, this drug stimulates the natural pump present in the retinal cells that for some reason stops working. The drug is given as two injections. This study is still ongoing, and is being conducted at 3 different sites across the US. Study recruitment has ended. Steroid Implant Studies These two studies are due to start soon. They will be testing different doses of the Posurdex steroid implant, which is given as an injection, in patients with uveitis at the back of the eye and near the middle of the eye (so called intermediate uveitis) This is a huge international study, with over 80 participating sites across the world, including the US, Australia, the UK, South Africa. SITE Study This is also a multi center study across the US funded by National Institutes of Health(NIH), comprised of 5 different sites, but it is a chart review study and not a clinical trial. The goal is to determine whether the long term use of Systemic Immunosuppressive Therapy for Eye diseases leads to a higher risk of malignancy or death. It is our understanding right now that it does not, but our current data is limited to one or two years. This study will definitely answer this question, which people have been asking since the introduction of such therapy in the late 1970s by Dr. Foster. The idea is to ‘pool’ together all the patients from the 5 biggest uveitis centers across the US, and to then analyze all of them together. The reason for taking such a large number of patients is to allow us to detect even a small increase in the development of cancer or malignancy. MUST Study This is the Multi-center Uveitis Steroid Treatment study across
the US funded by NIH. It is due to take off soon. The goal is to
compare oral steroid therapy for uveitis with a steroid implant
inside the eye, comparing to see which has less side effects and
which therapy results in better control of uveitis. This study is also due to start soon and the planning stages have recently been finished. The compound being tested is alpha fetoprotein, a hormone that is naturally present and rises in pregnancy. It has long been noted that uveitis and other autoimmune diseases improve during the later stages of pregnancy, when the levels of this hormone also rise. The inference is that this hormone somehow affects the immune system for the better, and pre clinical studies have supported this idea. This study will test whether it is effective for uveitis when administered separately. This will be an interesting new addition to the current therapy for uveitis if it works. Other projects currently being conducted through OIUF:
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