Hi Eli,
Yes, in fact, I did a Clinical Trial at NIH with Dr. Elaine Sloane about 1 year after stopping all meds which would have been about mid 2005. I was diagnosed in May 2003. I was in complete remission with all normal blood counts at the time. The theory is , as you say, once in complete remission, with no guarantee of how long it will last, can the bone marrow generate enough of your own stem cells to harvest in case a future transplant is needed? I raised the question when I was in NIH for my ATG. Then the clinical trial came out, so I joined up. I went up to Bethesda, got GCSF shots everyday for 5 days and then went in for blood work and set up with the Apheresis Dept. You have both arms checked (the process is just like donating stem cells). Anyway, they didn't like my arm veins, which meant I would have to be admitted for a groin catheter(ouch) and stay in a hospital bed unable to move for at least 3 days maybe more. That wasn't the problem though, since I would have done anything to harvest enough of my own stem cells, which would have been frozen and stored at NIH for life. Double insurance, since my sister is a complete match. Unfortunately, upon doing the blood work checking for the correct type (CD34) for transplant, I was not producing any of those, not one. Dr. Sloane had no explanation, since my blood counts were all normal. We thought, maybe 1 year was too soon and I should come back and try again in another year. By then, my life was pretty back to normal and that is a huge commitment to try, so I have not gone back to try again, although I still have the option to do so.I still go up, now every 2 years, for my BMB.
Anyway, the answer is yes..there are studies, although I don't know if they are still open to new patients or ones that didn't receive their ATG at NIH.
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/sh...Anemia&rank=20
Here is a link to the study I did.
All the best to you,
Judi