A Study of Tetrathiomolybdate in the Treatment of Psoriasis Vulgaris
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2005-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Psoriasis is a common skin disease affecting an estimated 2.6% of the US population. It is a
chronic, recurrent condition for which there is no cure, but there are ways to control it.
Psoriasis is characterized by epidermal hyperplasia (abnormal increase in the number of
normal cells of the outer layer of the skin). Tetrathiomolybdate (TM), a copper chelator (a
drug that removes copper from the bloodstream) was first created to treat Wilson's disease, a
disorder caused by too much copper in the blood. Studies in animals have since shown that TM
may also prevent the formation of new blood vessels and may also block the key components of
inflammation (swelling, redness, and pain) caused by psoriasis. TM is not approved by the FDA
for any use yet. It is an investigational drug used for clinical research. We propose to test
whether a new treatment with TM can in fact improve or stabilize psoriasis.