Immunotherapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Blast Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (BP CML), and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) Relapse After Allogeneic Transplantation

September 18, 2016 updated by: Martha Arellano, Emory University

A Pilot Phase II Study of Immunotherapy for the Treatment of AML, ALL, BP CML, and MDS Relapsed After Allogeneic Transplantation

The relapse of acute leukemia, MDS and blast phase CML after allogeneic transplantation affects approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of all transplant recipients and is the main cause of treatment failure. There is currently no effective standard treatment for this condition.

This study will test the activity and feasibility of using a regimen to boost the immune system in order to treat AML, ALL, blast phase CML, and MDS relapse after allogeneic transplantation.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a pilot phase II open label study testing the activity and feasibility of utilizing a regimen to boost the immune system in order to treat AML, ALL, blast phase CML, and MDS relapse after allogeneic transplantation. The regimen is a step-wise use of withdrawal of immunosuppression, cytoreduction if needed, administration of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and pegylated interferon (IFN) α-2b to patients who relapsed after an allogeneic transplant and will assess efficacy.

Relapse is the major problem following allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell transplants. There is currently no standard way to treat leukemia that relapsed after transplant, and patients have a poor prognosis.

A retrospective analysis of patients treated at Emory showed that administration of GM-CSF and interferon-alpha-2b was well-tolerated and affected long-term remissions in a small number of relapsed patients (after allogeneic transplant). Pre-clinical and clinical data from ours and other centers showed that relapsed leukemic blasts have down-regulation of co-stimulatory molecules and a tendency to evade the immune system. Cytokines can up-regulate co-stimulatory molecules on leukemic blasts and have been shown to increase the cytotoxicity of T-cells. This effect may be beneficial as a graft vs. leukemia effect for patients with relapse after allogeneic transplant.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

15

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
        • Emory University Winship Cancer Institute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age > 1 year.

  2. Patients who have received an allogeneic transplant to treat AML, ALL, MDS, or CML and have relapse or progression of their AML, ALL, MDS, or CML are eligible to participate in the study. Relapse is defined as: reappearance of leukemic blasts as determined by morphologic analysis of the blood or marrow, reappearance of a phenotypic population of leukemia blasts by flow cytometric analysis of the blood or marrow, reappearance of a chromosome abnormality which is associated with the original leukemia as determined by chromosomal or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing (ex: a translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22 for CML), reappearance of the molecular marker which is associated with the original leukemia as determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (ex: breakpoint cluster region [BCR]-Abelson murine leukemia [ABL] for CML or ALL).

    *Patients who received allogeneic transplantation to treat AML, ALL, MDS, or CML with detectable disease, and did not achieve remission of their leukemia after transplant are eligible.

  3. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status < 2 for adults, and Lansky status 60% for children.
  4. Liver functions tests (aspartate transaminase [AST]/alanine aminotransferase [ALT]/bilirubin) < 5x the upper limit of normal.
  5. Creatinine < 3x the upper limit of normal.
  6. Lack of active grade 2-4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) 3 weeks after discontinuation of immunosuppression.
  7. Patients with limited stage and extensive stage chronic GVHD of mild severity (lichenoid changes), or requiring < prednisone 10 mg/m² daily will be included.
  8. Recipients of grafts procured from related and unrelated donors with any level of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matching.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Pregnant patients are excluded due to unknown risk to the unborn fetus with cytokines.
  2. Allergy to components of interferon-alpha-2b or GM-CSF.
  3. Current uncontrolled infection.
  4. Current grade 2-4 acute GVHD or chronic extensive GVHD of moderate to severe nature, requiring treatment with more than 10 mg/m² of prednisone daily.

  5. Uncompensated heart failure, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III-IV:

    • Class I: patients with no limitation of activities; they suffer no symptoms from ordinary activities;
    • Class II: patients with slight, mild limitation of activity; they are comfortable with rest or with mild exertion;
    • Class III: patients with marked limitation of activity; they are comfortable only at rest;
    • Class IV: patients who should be at complete rest, confined to bed or chair; any physical activity brings on discomfort and symptoms occur at rest.
  6. Breast feeding, due to unknown risk to the infant.
  7. Inability to give informed consent.
  8. Children under 1 year of age.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: GM-CSF, Interferon-α-2b
Biological: GM-CSF
Dosing schedule: 250 mcg/m² subcutaneously Mon-Wed-Fri. Response assessed between 2 and 4 weeks. Duration on study is 3 months.
Other Names:
  • Leukine
  • Sargramostim
  • Rhu GM-CSF
  • NSC #617589
Biological: Interferon-α-2b
Dosing schedule: 1.5 mcg/kg subcutaneously Monday weekly. Response assessed between 2 and 4 weeks. Duration on study is 3 months.
Other Names:
  • Peginterferon alfa-2b
  • Peg-Intron
  • Interferon-alpha-2b
  • Intron A®
  • Pegylated Interferon-α-2b

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Efficacy of GM-CSF and Pegylated Interferon-alpha 2b When Administered to Patients With AML, ALL, Blast Phase CML, and MDS Relapse After Allogeneic Transplantation, Defined as Progression-free Survival of > 33% at 3 Months
Time Frame: 3 months after cytokine treatment
Efficacy is defined as progression-free survival of > 33% at 3 months. This is based on our retrospective data on 10% 3 month survival for relapsed patients. Progression is defined an an increase in blasts in blood or marrow by 50% compared to baseline with at least 20% of all cells being blasts at the time of assessment.
3 months after cytokine treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Overall Survival at 6 Months (Evaluate Overall Responses; Perform Lab Experiments to Test Hypothesis That Exposure to Interferon-alpha and GM-CSF Up-regulates Co-stimulatory Molecule Expression on Relapsed Acute Leukemia Cells)
Time Frame: 6 months after cytokine treatment
6 months after cytokine treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Emory University

Collaborators

Bayer

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Martha Arellano, MD, Emory University Winship Cancer Institute

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 22, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 23, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

October 24, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 26, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2016

Last Verified

September 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB00002219
  • WCI1228-06 (Other Identifier: Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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