5 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this research study is to see if a specific protein that we are interested in is involved in scarring hair loss. If these proteins are involved, further genetic work may also better define the disease as well as future treatment options.
This study will serve as a pilot study to determine the efficacy and safety of topical gabapentin in the treatment of symptomatic scarring alopecia.
The purpose of the current project is twofold; first to determine what personal, historical, logistical, and environmental factors preclude women from obtaining medical care for CCCA hair loss. Because damage from CCCA is irreversible, early identification and treatment is paramount to limiting the negative ramifications of the disease. Second, to investigate how CCCA hair loss, a common occurrence in the Black population, can be a significant psychological impediment to lives of affected Black women. Based on previous research on the psychosocial impact of generalized hair loss in Black women, it is fair to consider that CCCA hair loss also leads to problems with self-esteem and participation in daily life activities. This research, the first of its kind, will add to existing knowledge of CCCA by investigating the quality of life and barriers to care of patients with this condition. The goal of this study is to illuminate what stands in the way of secondary and tertiary prevention of CCCA patients and tailor treatment strategies to address their needs. The results of this study will be instrumental in modifying dermatology resident training, adding to existing dermatology management guidelines, and even developing public health advocacy programming.
This study aims to investigate whether platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections can help treat central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA), a type of scarring hair loss that mostly affects women of African descent. CCCA is a condition that leads to permanent hair loss, usually starting at the top of the scalp and spreading outward. It can also cause discomfort, such as itching, burning, and pain. The goal is to see if PRP, which comes from the patient's own blood and is thought to reduce inflammation and promote healing, can stop hair loss and even encourage hair regrowth. PRP has been used to treat other types of hair loss, but it has not been widely studied for CCCA. Participants in the study will be women of African descent who have been diagnosed with mild to moderate CCCA. Some participants will receive PRP injections, while others will receive a placebo (an inactive treatment) as part of a randomized, double-blind trial. All participants will continue using a topical steroid treatment, which is the standard of care for this condition. The study will also look at growth factors in participants' blood to understand how they may affect hair loss or regrowth. The goal is to gather information that could lead to better treatments for CCCA, a condition that currently has no standard treatment guidelines. Although there are risks such as minor discomfort from blood draws and scalp injections and/or a small risk of disease progression, the potential benefits include improved hair growth and a better understanding of CCCA treatments.
Alopecia could be subdivided into two main groups of diseases: non-scarring alopecia, such as male pattern baldness, or alopecia areata (AA), in which hair follicles are preserved, yet quiescent, and scarring alopecia, also known as cicatricial alopecia (CA), in which hair follicles are irreversibly destroyed. CA leads to scarred areas, most commonly on the scalp, that cannot re-grow hair. Despite being a long-term condition, that often has significant impact on patients' well-being, available effective treatments for these diseases are lacking. In addition, the molecular abnormalities causing CA are largely unknown. The research team will be administering a new investigational drug (a JAK3/TEC inhibitor), ritlecitinib, which has shown statistically significant improvement in scalp hair loss for AA patients in a proof of concept and phase 2b/3 studies (B7981015 AA study). This is an open-label clinical trial. CA patients will be asked to provide small samples of skin and blood throughout the treatment period, to find out how they respond to the drug, and to attempt to better understand these diseases.