Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN) is a network of physicians, scientists, and support staff dedicated to studying

stem cell therapy Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. , the only established therapy using stem cells is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This usually takes the form of a bone-marrow transplantation, but ...

for treating

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

. The CCTRN is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and includes expert researchers with experience in cardiovascular care at seven stem cell centers in the United States. The goals of the Network are to complete research studies that will potentially lead to more effective treatments for patients with

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

, and to share knowledge quickly with the

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

community.

Mission statement

The mission of the CCTRN is to achieve public health advances for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, through the conduct and dissemination of collaborative research leading to

evidence-based treatment Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...

options and improved outcome for patients with heart disease.

Components of the Network

The sponsor The

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the third largest Institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It is tasked with allocating about $3.6 billion in FY 2020 in tax revenue to ...

NHLBI
is one of 27 institutes/centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel,

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

, and

blood disease Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

s; and sleep disorders. The NHLBI plans and directs research in the development and evaluation of interventions and devices related to prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients with such diseases and disorders. The Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials Since 1971, the Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials

at The University of Texas School of Public Health has played a leading role in cardiovascular disease and vision research by serving as a coordinating center for 25 nationwide multicenter clinical trials. The CCCT's primary function is to provide and coordinate all operations, procedures, and activities of a large-scale randomized controlled clinical trial. The CCCT serves as the Data Coordinating Center for the CCTRN. The DCC was led by Lemuel Moye (2006-2019) and Barry R. Davis (2019-2021). The clinical sites The CCTRN includes seven stem cell centers in the United States with experience and expertise in clinical trials studying treatments for heart disease and peripheral artery disease. These sites include: * Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation

* Texas Heart Institute, Texas Heart Institute Stem Cell Centerbr>
* University of Florida College of Medicine

* University of Louisville

* Vascular and Cardiac Center for Adult Stem Cell Therapy (VC-CAST) * University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

*

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Body of work

In July 2008, the CCTRN opened enrollment in two studies in patients who had recently had heart attacks: TIME
(NCT00684021)
and LateTIME
(NCT00684060)
. The purpose of these studies was to determine if

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

s safely taken from an individual's

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...

could be

transplant Transplant or Transplantation may refer to: Sciences *Transplanting a plant from one location to another *Organ transplantation, moving an organ from one body to another *Transplant thought experiment, an experiment similar to Trolley problem *Tra ...

ed back into the injured heart muscle of the individual and improve the heart's ability to pump following a heart attack, as well as to determine the best time for transplanting the cells following a heart attack. The results of both studies were presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific meetings in 2011 (LateTIME) and 2012 (TIME), and simultaneously published in JAMA. In March 2009, the CCTRN opened enrollment in a

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

study: FOCUS
(NCT00824005)
. The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and effectiveness of injecting bone marrow stem cells into heart muscle in an attempt to promote blood vessel growth that could potentially improve the blood supply i
hearts that are failing
This study recruited patients who had heart failure, but would no longer benefit from other forms of standard treatment such as surgery or coronary artery repair procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement. The results of this study were presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Meeting in 2012 and simultaneously published in JAMA. In June 2013, CCTRN opened enrollment in a study in peripheral artery disease: PACE
(NCT01774097)
. The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and effectiveness of bone marrow-derived stem cell therapy on improving blood flow and walking ability in patients with peripheral artery disease. The results of this study were published in Circulation in 2017. In October 2015, CCTRN opened enrollment in a study in

: CONCERT-HF
(NCT02501811)
The purpose of the study was to determine whether giving autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and/or C-kit+ cells to patients with heart muscle damage is safe and to help us learn whether these treatments improve heart function for people who are not ideal candidates for other forms of standard therapy such as surgery. The results of this study were published in the European Journal of Heart Failure in 2021. In September 2016, CCTRN opened enrollment in a study in anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy (AIC): SENECA
(NCT02509156)
The purpose of the study was to determine whether giving allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to patients with AIC is safe and whether these treatments improve heart function. The results of this study were published in JACC CardioOncology in 2020.Bolli R, Perin EC, Willerson JT, Yang PC, Traverse JH, Henry TD, Pepine CJ, Mitrani RD, Hare JM, Murphy MP, March KL, Ikram S, Lee DP, O'Brien C, Durand JB, Miller K, Lima JA, Ostovaneh MR, Ambale-Venkatesh B, Gee AP, Richman S, Taylor DA, Sayre SL, Bettencourt J, Vojvodic RW, Cohen ML, Simpson LM, Lai D, Aguilar D, Loghin C, Moyé L, Ebert RF, Davis BR, Simari RD; Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN). Allogeneic Mesenchymal Cell Therapy in Anthracycline-Induced Cardiomyopathy Heart Failure Patients: The CCTRN SENECA Trial. JACC CardioOncol. 2020 Nov;2(4):581-595. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccao.2020.09.001. Epub 2020 Dec 22. PMID 33403362; PMCID: PMC7781291.

References

External links

CCTRN at UTHealth - School of Public Health

ClinicalTrials.gov

International Society for Stem Cell Research

Becoming a Research Volunteer (OHRP)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (Cctrn) Heart disease organizations Stem cell research