Stem Cell Transplant clinical trials at UCSF

Patients in need of an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) are at risk of developing graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). In certain clinical situations, the optimal approach to minimize the risk of GVHD is to perform ex vivo alpha-beta T-cell depletion of the donor cells. However, the CliniMACS® Device is FDA-approved only for a narrow indication. All other uses of ex vivo processed cells must be done under a feasibility study protocol.

Patients are in 2 cohorts: Cohort 1: dexamethasone, methotrexate, ifosfamide, pegaspargase, and etoposide (modified SMILE) chemotherapy regimen alone and pembrolizumab in children, adolescents, and young adults with advanced stage NK lymphoma and leukemia Cohort 2: combining pralatrexate (PRX) (Cycles 1, 2, 4, 6) and brentuximab vedotin (BV) (Cycles 3, 5) to cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone in children, adolescent, and young adults with advanced peripheral T-cell lymphoma (non-anaplastic large cell lymphoma or non-NK lymphoma/leukemia) . Both groups proceed to allogeneic stem cell transplant with disease response.

This phase III trial tests how well the addition of dinutuximab to Induction chemotherapy along with standard of care surgical resection of the primary tumor, radiation, stem cell transplantation, and immunotherapy works for treating children with newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma. Dinutuximab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to a molecule called GD2, which is found on the surface of neuroblastoma cells, but is not present on many healthy or normal cells in the body. When dinutuximab binds to the neuroblastoma cells, it helps signal the immune system to kill the tumor cells. This helps the cells of the immune system kill the cancer cells, this is a type of immunotherapy. When chemotherapy and immunotherapy are given together, during the same treatment cycle, it is called chemoimmunotherapy. This clinical trial randomly assigns patients to receive either standard chemotherapy and surgery or chemoimmunotherapy (chemotherapy plus dinutuximab) and surgery during Induction therapy. Chemotherapy drugs administered during Induction include, cyclophosphamide, topotecan, cisplatin, etoposide, vincristine, and doxorubicin. These drugs work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing or by stopping them from spreading. Upon completion of 5 cycles of Induction therapy, a disease evaluation is completed to determine how well the treatment worked. If the tumor responds to therapy, patients receive a tandem transplantation with stem cell rescue. If the tumor has little improvement or worsens, patients receive chemoimmunotherapy on Extended Induction. During Extended Induction, dinutuximab is given with irinotecan, temozolomide. Patients with a good response to therapy move on to Consolidation therapy, when very high doses of chemotherapy are given at two separate points to kill any remaining cancer cells. Following, transplant, radiation therapy is given to the site where the cancer originated (primary site) and to any other areas that are still active at the end of Induction. The final stage of therapy is Post-Consolidation. During Post-Consolidation, dinutuximab is given with isotretinoin, with the goal of maintaining the response achieved with the previous therapy. Adding dinutuximab to Induction chemotherapy along with standard of care surgical resection of the primary tumor, radiation, stem cell transplantation, and immunotherapy may be better at treating children with newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma.

This phase III trial compares hematopoietic (stem) cell transplantation (HCT) using mismatched related donors (haploidentical [haplo]) versus matched unrelated donors (MUD) in treating children, adolescents, and young adults with acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). HCT is considered standard of care treatment for patients with high-risk acute leukemia and MDS. In HCT, patients are given very high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, which is intended to kill cancer cells that may be resistant to more standard doses of chemotherapy; unfortunately, this also destroys the normal cells in the bone marrow, including stem cells. After the treatment, patients must have a healthy supply of stem cells reintroduced or transplanted. The transplanted cells then reestablish the blood cell production process in the bone marrow. The healthy stem cells may come from the blood or bone marrow of a related or unrelated donor. If patients do not have a matched related donor, doctors do not know what the next best donor choice is. This trial may help researchers understand whether a haplo related donor or a MUD HCT for children with acute leukemia or MDS is better or if there is no difference at all.

To perform an receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, define a threshold and quantify the sensitivity and specificity of US SWE for risk stratification of patients into three categories as defined by the European Bone Marrow Transplant (EBMT) adult and pediatric criteria: no sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), mild to moderate SOS, and severe to very severe SOS. Secondarily, the investigators would also like to quantify the temporal relationship between US SWE changes and SOS diagnosis according to various clinical criteria (Modified Seattle, Baltimore, EBMT consortium).

This study will validate a previously developed pediatric prognostic biomarker algorithm aimed at improving prediction of risk for the later development of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) in children and young adults undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. By developing an early risk stratification of patients into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk for future cGvHD development (based upon their biomarker profile, before the onset of cGvHD), pre-emptive therapies aimed at preventing the onset of cGvHD can be developed based upon an individual's biological risk profile. This study will also continue research into diagnostic biomarkers of cGvHD, and begin work into biomarker models that predict clinical response to cGvHD therapies.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is an effective but toxic therapy and pulmonary morbidity affects as many as 25% of children receiving transplant. Early pulmonary injury includes diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) interstitial pneumonitis (IPS) and infection, while later, bronchiolitis obliterans is a complication of chronic GVHD associated with severe morbidity and mortality. Improved diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary complications are urgently needed as survival after HSCT improves, and as HSCT is increasingly used for non-malignant disorders such as sickle cell disease. Currently, there are large and important gaps in the investigator's knowledge regarding incidence, etiology and optimal treatment of pulmonary complications. Moreover, young children unable to perform spirometry are often diagnosed late, and strategies for monitoring therapeutic response are limited. This is a prospective multi-institutional cohort study in pediatric patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). Assembly of a large prospective uniformly screened cohort of children receiving HSCT, together with collection of biological samples, will be an effective strategy to identify mechanisms of lung injury, test novel diagnostic strategies for earlier diagnosis, and novel treatments to reduce morbidity and mortality from lung injury after transplant.