Active clinical trials for "Hematologic Neoplasms"

It is hypothesized that engraftment when administering cyclophosphamide post the stem cell infusion will increase, the incidence of graft versus host disease (GVHD) and day 100 mortality will decrease, and the use of cyclophosphamide post stem cell infusion with alternative donors will be as safe and as effective as traditional matched transplants.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of transplanting CD34+ selected hematopoietic cells from a haploidentical related donor following a nonmyeloablative regimen of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) and antithymocyte globulin (ATG).

The primary objectives of the trial are to assess erythroid response to darbepoetin alfa, as determined by changes in hemoglobin and/or red blood cell (RBC) transfusion-dependence and to describe the safety profile of darbepoetin alfa in patients with MDS. The secondary objective is to assess bone marrow progenitor BFU-E growth before and after treatment with darbepoetin alfa.

The major purpose of this study is to evaluate the curative potential of white cell growth hormone (G-CSF)-stimulated bone marrow cells in allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Patients with cancers or blood diseases, who have poor potential for a cure with standard treatment, will be able to participate in the study. Donors will receive the white cell growth hormone (G-CSF) as a shot (injection) in their arm once a day for three days before they donate their bone marrow cells. Total body irradiation and/or chemotherapy will be given first to prepare the patient's body for the infusion of new bone marrow cells from the donor. Two medicines (cyclosporine and methotrexate) will be used to prevent the new bone marrow cells (graft) from attacking the patient's body (host) (graft-versus-host disease; GVHD). Certain safety checkpoints were built into the study if unwanted/unexpected events were to occur. If the outcomes appear better than could be expected, this will provide a bridge to extend this current approach for other innovative therapies.

The purpose of this study is to test the safety and tolerability of carfilzomib at different dose levels on hematological cancers such as multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, or Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. Carfilzomib is a proteasome inhibitor, an enzyme responsible for degrading a wide variety of cellular proteins.

Childhood leukemias which cannot be cured by chemotherapy alone may be effectively treated by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Moreover, for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only proven curative modality of treatment. Patients who have received hematopoietic stem cells from an HLA matched sibling donor have proven to be less at risk for disease relapse and regimen related toxicity. However, about 70% of patients in need of HSCT do not have an HLA matched sibling donor. This necessitates the search for alternative donors, which may increase the risk of a poor outcome. The nature of the hematopoietic stem cell graft has been implicated as a primary factor determining these outcomes. The standard stem cell graft has been unmanipulated bone marrow, but recently several advantages of T-lymphocyte depleted bone marrow and mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) have been demonstrated. However, T-cell depletion may increase the risk of infectious complications and leukemic recurrence while an unmanipulated stem cell graft may increase the risk of graft vs. host disease (GVHD). A key element in long range strategies in improving outcomes for patients undergoing matched unrelated donor (MUD) HSCT is to provide the optimal graft. The primary objective of this clinical trial is to estimate the incidence of acute GVHD in pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies who receive HSCT with an unmanipulated marrow graft. The results of this study can be used as the foundation for future trials related to engineering unrelated donor graft.

Blood and marrow stem cell transplant has improved the outcome for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies. However, most patients do not have an appropriate HLA (immune type) matched sibling donor available and/or are unable to identify an acceptable unrelated HLA matched donor through the registries in a timely manner. Another option is haploidentical transplant using a partially matched family member donor. Although haploidentical transplant has proven curative in many patients, this procedure has been hindered by significant complications, primarily regimen-related toxicity including GVHD and infection due to delayed immune reconstitution. These can, in part, be due to certain white blood cells in the graft called T cells. GVHD happens when the donor T cells recognize the body tissues of the patient (the host) are different and attack these cells. Although too many T cells increase the possibility of GVHD, too few may cause the recipient's immune system to reconstitute slowly or the graft to fail to grow, leaving the patient at high-risk for significant infection. For these reasons, a primary focus for researchers is to engineer the graft to provide a T cell dose that will reduce the risk for GVHD, yet provide a sufficient number of cells to facilitate immune reconstitution and graft integrity. Building on prior institutional trials, this study will provide patients with a haploidentical graft engineered to specific T cell target values using the CliniMACS system. A reduced intensity, preparative regimen will be used in an effort to reduce regimen-related toxicity and mortality. Two groups of patients were enrolled on this study. One group included those with high-risk hematologic malignancies and the second group included participants with refractory hematologic malignancies or undergoing a second transplant. The primary aim of the study was to estimate the relapse rate in the one group of research participants with refractory hematologic malignancies or those undergoing second allogeneic transplant. Both groups will be followed and analyzed separately in regards to the secondary objectives. This study was closed to accrual on April 2006 as it met the specific safety stopping rules regarding occurrence of severe graft vs. host disease. Although this study is no longer open to accrual, the treated participants continue to be followed as directed by the protocol.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy used to kill cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy followed by peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have hematologic cancer or aplastic anemia.

This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of stem cell transplantation in which the donor's T cells (a type of lymphocyte, or white blood cell) are removed and then added back. Certain patients with bone marrow malignancies undergo transplantation of donated stem cells to generate new and normally functioning bone marrow. However, T-cells from the donor may see the patient's cells as foreign and mount an immune response to reject them, causing what is called "graft-versus-host-disease" (GVHD). Therefore, in this protocol, T-cells are removed from the donor cells to prevent this complication. However, because T-cells are important in fighting viral infections as well as any remaining malignant cells (called graft-versus-leukemia effect), the donor T-cells are given to the patient (added back) at a later time after the transplant when they can provide needed immunity with less risk of causing GVHD. Patients between 10 and 55 years of age with acute or chronic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or myeloproliferative syndrome may be eligible for this study. Prospective participants and their donors are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood tests (including a test to match for genetic compatibility), breathing tests, chest and sinus x-rays, and tests of heart function. They also undergo a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration. For this procedure, done under local anesthetic, about a tablespoon of bone marrow is withdrawn through a needle inserted into the hipbone. They undergo apheresis to collect lymphocytes for research studies. This procedure involves collecting blood through a needle in the arm, similar to donating a unit of blood. The lymphocytes are then separated and removed by a cell separator machine, and the rest of the blood is returned through a needle in the other arm. Before treatment begins, patients have a central intravenous line (flexible plastic tube) placed in a vein in the chest. This line remains in place during the stem cell transplant and recovery period for drawing and transfusing blood, giving medications, and infusing the donated cells. Preparation for the transfusion includes high-dose radiation and chemotherapy. Patients undergo total body irradiation in 8 doses given in two 30-minute sessions a day for 4 days. Eight days before the transplant, they begin taking fludarabine, and 3 days before the procedure they start cyclophosphamide.

No prospective randomized trials have evaluated the most efficacious dose of cyclophosphamide to mobilize autologous stem cells. We previously demonstrated that the time to collection of autologous hematopoietic stem cells is 10-12 days following the one dose of cyclophosphamide and daily G-CSF (granulocyte-colony stimulating factor).9 This prospective randomized trial is designed to determine if a lower dose of cyclophosphamide (1.5 gm/m2) will be as efficacious as the intermediate dose (3 gm/m2), based on cell number collected, number of apheresis required and resource utilization.