Gleevec in trials for scleroderma

I've read a few articles about a newer drug with the brand name of Gleevec. Originally used to address cancer such as leukemia, it is now being tested with other diseases with scleroderma being one I (and others that follow this blog) care about.

The latest article at http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf?/base/business/1228263912108410.xml&coll=7 with the relevant portions copied here:

"It's wild, isn't it?" said Dr. Daniel Furst, a professor of rheumatology at the University of California at Los Angeles. Furst is leading one of at least five clinical trials testing whether imatinib can reverse the symptoms of scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder that damages the skin or internal organs.

The drug appears to act by stopping damaging inflammation, a common factor in autoimmune disorders.

The drug appears to act by stopping damaging inflammation, a common factor in autoimmune disorders. Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco recently showed how imatinib could reverse diabetes in mice by blocking a cell component called platelet-derived growth factor receptor, or PDGFR. The receptor is part of a signaling system that regulates cell growth and inflammation.
Researchers also have started to connect the dots at a molecular level. In 2006, Italian researchers reported compelling evidence in the New England Journal of Medicine that PDGFR activity plays a leading role in scleroderma. That prompted Furst's team and others to test imatinib in patients with scleroderma.

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I've emailed Dr Wigley at Johns Hopkins to give him a quick status update on me since I haven't been there since June and to ask if JH is doing anything with the drug. I'll let you know what he says.