Active clinical trials for "Myelodysplastic Syndromes"

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood in the laboratory from patients with cancer may help doctors learn more about nausea and vomiting caused by cancer treatment. PURPOSE: This laboratory study is looking at blood samples from patients with cancer who were treated on a clinical trial to control nausea and vomiting during donor stem cell transplant.

This is a multicentric, non-randomized, non-controlled open-label phase II trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of treosulfan in a combination regimen with fludarabine as conditioning therapy prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients with haematological malignancies. The aim is to demonstrate a clinical benefit compared with historical data on intravenous busulfan (BusulfexTM, BusilvexTM), the only drug so far registered in the indication conditioning before allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

This study is mainly assessing the safety of Revlimid in combination with Ancestim (recombinant human stem cell factor) in patients with symptomatic myelodysplasia. Of those two compounds, Revlimid has been shown to be an active drug in myelodysplasia. Clinical responses will also be assessed.

Phase I, interventional, single arm, open label, treatment study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of CD123-CD33 cCAR in patients with relapsed and/or refractory, high risk hematologic malignancies.

Phase I, interventional, single arm, open label, treatment study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of CLL1-CD33 cCAR in patients with relapsed and/or refractory, high risk hematologic malignancies.

Albeit the safety of the stem cell transplantation procedure has been greatly improved, further refining the intensity of the conditioning is an important issue to explore, especially in patients with poor prognosis, the goal being to maintain the very favorable safety profile and improve the disease control. This is the goal our prospective trial; we aim to prospectively evaluate in a prospective multicenter trial the efficacy of different conditioning regimens in patients with high-risk myeloid malignancies. The study is a phase II trial randomizing patients between a prospective active control arm (BX2) and two experimental arms (BX3 and BX4). A standard group was kept in this clinical trial in order to avoid the limitations induced by the comparison with historical controls in the context of continuously improving practice. Each experimental arm will be conducted in parallel according to a standard phase II trial design. In addition, this trial will associate four ancillary studies to the main clinical objective: 1/ a prospective assessment of the quality of life of the patients over a period of 2 years 2/ an analysis of the cost effectiveness of the procedure, assessed over a period of 2 years 3/ an observational busulfan pharmacokinetic study 4/ a busulfan pharmacogenomic study

This randomized phase II trial studies how well treosulfan and fludarabine phosphate, with or without total body irradiation before donor stem cell transplant works in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia. Giving chemotherapy, such as treosulfan and fludarabine phosphate, and total-body irradiation before a donor stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells. It may also stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. The donated stem cells may replace the patient's immune cells and help destroy any remaining cancer cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can also make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving tacrolimus before and mycophenolate mofetil after the transplant may stop this from happening.

Patients with some forms of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and multiple myeloma (MM) are not cured with conventional therapy and new approaches are needed. For the last 15 years we have investigated the potential of using a patient's own T cells (a type of white blood cell [WBC]) to eradicate the tumor. We have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach in cell culture and animal models of AML and MM. Over the last 5 years we have been preparing to treat patients as part of a Phase I (first in human) clinical trial. The trial treatment involves collecting the patient's own WBCs from the blood by a standard well established and safe process called apheresis. The cells are then cultured in a specialized laboratory (under Good Manufacturing Practice conditions, similar to standards under which pharmaceuticals are produced) over 12 days to convert the cells to specialized tumor-attacking T cells. Early in that culture process the cells are exposed to a virus (that is modified so that it cannot infect or replicate outside the special culture conditions) that contains a special gene. Via the virus, this gene inserts into the patient's T cells in culture and gets incorporated into the T cell's genetic machinery. As the T cells replicate, the new gene produces a protein receptor that becomes part of the patient's T cells. This protein receptor on the T cells has the capacity to specifically recognize and bind to a protein on the leukemia or myeloma cells called the "Lewis Y" antigen. After the modified T cells are infused into the patient, they home into the bone marrow (this tracking is monitored by special radiological techniques) where the new protein receptor on the T cell surface can recognize and bind to the cancer cells (which express Lewis Y). Once bound onto the cancer cells, the T cells get activated and subsequently replicate and kill the cancer cells. The novelty of this approach is that the T-cells will only kill cells that have the Lewis Y on their surface - the cancer cells. Moreover, because there are few normal cells in a person's body that carry Lewis Y, this treatment is likely to only have minor side effects. This gene therapy trial is unique and although the primary purpose is to test the safety of this approach, patients will be monitored closely for anti-tumor responses. As the trial progresses, the dose of T cells infused will increase, in the hope that this will result in a better and stronger immune response to the leukemia or myeloma.

Approved dosing schedule of azacitidine for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is 75 mg/m^2/day subcutaneous for 7 consecutive days every 28 days, which is based on the data from standard chemotherapy regimen and a Phase I safety clinical trial. Since the optimal dosage of this drug has not been found yet, it remains as a subject of clinical study that needs to be examined. If initial toxicity is minimized by developing dosage/regimen that replaces the standard therapy, it will be possible to provide continuous treatment with increased convenience by patients and treating physicians as well as improvement for safety in elderly patients or those with serious cytopenia. In addition, it is expected to lead to a better response by strictly keeping a treatment schedule. Recent US study showed that 5-day regimen showed similar treatment results, but retrospective data from Spain showed lower response rate in 5-day regimen. Considering the recent circumstances around dosage and schedule of azacitidine in lower risk MDS, a Phase II clinical trial is planned in lower risk MDS patients in order to explore the efficacy in 5-day treatment by comparing prospectively with 7-day standard regimen.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is the only potentially curative therapy for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). Relapse remains a leading cause for treatment failure after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients，so that there is the need to continue to look for alternative therapies. Decitabine, is known to inhibit DNA methyltransferase which results in DNA hypomethylation and expression of silenced genes including those involved in apoptosis. The approval of decitabine for the treatment of MDS and AML has provided an alternative strategy to inhibit disease progression in transplant-eligible patients. To assess the effect of pretransplant decitabine treatment on post transplant outcomes, we recently reviewed our institutional experience with MDS and AML patients.