Jaci:

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http://www.google.com/patents/WO2012155212A1?cl=en

Stumbled on this today whilst looking into DUpuytren's treatments.... Watch this space
Am interested in other's thoughts/reactions....

That patent and the treatment using Actilyse (which has as its active ingredient something called altepase) is mentioned on this site, here:

http://www.dupuytren-online.info/dupuytr...s_research.html

When I read that patent, it mentions that 100 patients have been treated in a test.

Searching other websites, it seems that altepase is intended for heart attacks and strokes):
http://www.news-medical.net/drugs/Actilyse.aspx

So it seems to me that the pharmaceutical product already exists, and they are attempting to patent an off-label use for it after performing a small trial.

Excerpts:

In the following examples the treatment of a number of patients suffering from Dupuytren's disease (palmar fascial fibromatosis) will be discussed. To date 100 patients suffering from Dupuytren's disease and 4 patients suffering from Ledderhose disease have been treated by the method of the invention using a recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. Specifically, the recombinant tissue plasminogen activator used is Alteplase as part of the commercially available formulation Actilyse™.

In general terms, at least 95% of the patient's suffering from Dupuytren's disease have reported satisfaction with the outcome after one or two rounds of treatment due to a greatly increased range of motion in the affected digits/regions. For those presenting with very pronounced cords or nodules then stripping out of the cord/nodule may be desirable for at least cosmetic reasons. In these cases the stripping procedure is also greatly simplified as a result of the treatment of the invention by comparison to surgery on a Dupuytren's patient who has not had the present treatment. This is as a result of the softening of the tissue.

The outcome of the present treatment was even better for patients suffering from Ledderhose disease in that all patients reported complete satisfaction with the return to function of the affected tissue.