Oral Supplementation of 2'-Fucosyllactose in Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant Recipients

Oral Supplementation of 2'-Fucosyllactose in Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant Recipients to Maintain Intestinal Homeostasis

High dose chemotherapy and radiation used as preparative regimens in patients undergoing an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) disrupts intestinal homeostasis by damaging the intestinal epithelium and altering the intestinal microbiome. The investigators hypothesize that 2'-fucosyllactose (2FL) supplementation will be safe and tolerable and result in an increase in the relative abundance of intestinal Bifidobacteria. The investigators also hypothesize that 2FL supplementation will lead to reduction of Firmicutes and/or Proteobacteria, and improved intestinal homeostasis at day+30 as measured by lower pro-inflammatory cytokines, reduced levels of T-cell activation, lower markers of intestinal injury (fecal human DNA and plasma reg-3-alpha), increased fecal butyrate levels and ultimately lower incidence of acute GVHD and BSI at day+100.

Phase II:

The investigators hypothesize that 2FL supplementation will be safe and tolerable and result in an increase in the relative abundance of fecal short chain fatty acids such as butyrate, acetate and propionate at day+7 compared to baseline values.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: 2'-fucosyllactose

Detailed Description

This phase I/IIa study is a single center prospective study at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC).

This study will assess the safety and tolerability of various doses of 2FL. Eligible patients will be allocated to the following arms as determined by age at enrollment:

Arm 1: 0-5 years; Arm 2: 5.1-10 years; Arm 3: >10 years

The investigators will first enroll 5 patients of ages ≥10 years undergoing allogeneic HSCT. 2'-FL will be administered to these patients from day-7 until day+30 after HSCT at the starting dose for the ≥10 years age group. Once safety is determined the investigators will then enroll an additional 5 patients of ages 5-10 years and 5 patients of ages 0-5 years and administer 2'FL at starting doses according to their age group to children from day-7 to day+30 after HSCT. Enrollment in the 2 defined age groups (5-10 years and 0-5 years) will occur independent of each other/in parallel to establish safety. Once safety is established in these patients the investigators will proceed with the 3x3 study design dose finding portion of our study

Three patients will be enrolled in each arm at the starting dose level. Investigators will perform a dose escalation or de-escalation based on rates of dose limiting toxicities.

Phase II:

Initial 15 patients to establish safety as per the FDA have been enrolled. An additional 10 patients were enrolled and interim analyses demonstrating safety, lack of any dose limiting toxicities and a positive signal of increase in fecal acetate and propionate at day+7 compared to baseline values) were performed. The investigators will enroll approximately 65 additional patients to test efficacy of 2FL supplementation in children and young adult allogeneic HSCT patients with a goal to reduce intestinal inflammation and improve post HSCT outcomes such as acute GVHD and bloodstream infections.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 70
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45229
      • Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be scheduled for allogeneic stem cell transplant
• All ages and underlying diagnoses, preparative regimens, stem cell sources and acute GVHD prophylaxes

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to take anything orally or enterally (i.e. intestinal failure)
• Actively breastfeeding infants
• Recent (within the week prior to enrollment) GI infection
• Patients receiving anti-diarrheal medications such as loperamide
• Patients who have received probiotics or prebiotics during the previous month
• Patients who have had any type of gut damage within the past 3 months such as previous bowel perforations, previous episode of Grade 4 neutropenic colitis or typhlitis
• Patients with inflammatory bowel disease, short bowel syndrome, and patients with a history of bowel resections

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 2'-fucosyllactose for ages 0-5 years; Dose for ages 0-5 years: 2.5 g/day;	Drug: 2'-fucosyllactose; 2FL powder will be provided to participants randomized to receive 2FL in packets. They will be instructed to drink this daily by adding the required amount to food or drink. It may also be mixed in standard feeds or mixed with water and administered by enteral tube, whenever applicable.; Other Names: 2FL supplementation
Experimental: 2'-fucosyllactose for ages 5.1-10 years; Dose for ages 5.1-10 years: 5 g/day;	Drug: 2'-fucosyllactose; 2FL powder will be provided to participants randomized to receive 2FL in packets. They will be instructed to drink this daily by adding the required amount to food or drink. It may also be mixed in standard feeds or mixed with water and administered by enteral tube, whenever applicable.; Other Names: 2FL supplementation
Experimental: 2'-fucosyllactose for ages >10 years; Dose for ages >10 years: 10 g/day;	Drug: 2'-fucosyllactose; 2FL powder will be provided to participants randomized to receive 2FL in packets. They will be instructed to drink this daily by adding the required amount to food or drink. It may also be mixed in standard feeds or mixed with water and administered by enteral tube, whenever applicable.; Other Names: 2FL supplementation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Bloodstream Infections	Patients with a bloodstream infection occurring anytime between first day of 2-FL dosing until day+100 after transplant were collected. Typically 2FL was started with start of chemotherapy which was usually up to 22 days before transplant	Day+100 after transplant
Number of Patients Able to Take 2FL	Daily drug doses were documented by patients or nursing staff as applicable. Patients who took at least 60% of their total planned doses were deemed to meet protocol defined adherence to 2-FL	1 week prior to start of chemotherapy until day+30 after transplant (transplant occurred up to 22 days from start of chemotherapy)
Change in Fecal Acetate Levels	Change in fecal acetate levels from baseline at day+ 7	Day+ 7 after transplant
Change in Fecal Propionate Levels	Change in fecal propionate levels from baseline at day+ 7	Day+ 7 after transplant
Change in Fecal Butyrate Levels	Change in fecal butyrate levels from baseline at day+ 7	Day+ 7 after transplant

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Relative Abundance of Fecal Bifidobacteria at Day+30 Compared to Baseline	Stool underwent shotgun metagenomic sequencing and Kraken2 taxonomic classification; read counts were rarefied to a common depth. For each participant, the relative abundance (percentage of total classified reads) of the genus Bifidobacterium was calculated at baseline and at Day +30; phylum values were obtained by summing all constituent genera. The change from baseline (Day +30 minus baseline) was computed for participants with paired samples. Values are summarized as median [interquartile range].	Day+30 after transplant
Relative Abundance of Fecal Firmicutes at Day+30 Compared to Baseline for Patients on 2FL	Stool underwent shotgun metagenomic sequencing and Kraken2 taxonomic classification; read counts were rarefied to a common depth. For each participant, the relative abundance (percentage of total classified reads) of the phyla Firmicutes was calculated at baseline and at Day +30; phylum values were obtained by summing all constituent genera. The change from baseline (Day +30 minus baseline) was computed for participants with paired samples. Values are summarized as median [interquartile range].	Day+30 after transplant
Incidence of Acute GVHD	Incidence of acute GVHD in patients on 2FL	Day+100 after transplant
Incidence of Mucosal Barrier Injury Laboratory-confirmed Bloodstream Infection (MBI-LCBI)	Incidence of mucosal barrier injury laboratory confirmed bloodstream infections were collected from first dose of 2-FL until day+100 after transplant in evaluable patients	Day+ 100 after transplant
Urine 3-indoxyl Sulfate (3-IS) Levels	Unit of measure is urine 3-indole sulfate levels in mM normalized to urine creatinine	Baseline
Urine 3-indoxyl Sulfate (3-IS) Levels	Unit of measure is urine 3-indole sulfate levels in mM normalized to urine creatinine	day+7
Urine 3-indoxyl Sulfate (3-IS) Levels	Unit of measure is urine 3-indole sulfate levels in mM normalized to urine creatinine	day+14
Urine 3-indoxyl Sulfate (3-IS) Levels	Unit of measure is urine 3-indole sulfate levels in mM normalized to urine creatinine	Day+30
Relative Abundance of Fecal Proteobacteria at Day+30 Compared to Baseline for Patients on 2FL	Stool underwent shotgun metagenomic sequencing and Kraken2 taxonomic classification; read counts were rarefied to a common depth. For each participant, the relative abundance (percentage of total classified reads) of the phyla Proteobacteria was calculated at baseline and at Day +30); phylum values were obtained by summing all constituent genera. The change from baseline (Day +30 minus baseline) was computed for participants with paired samples. Values are summarized as median [interquartile range].	Day+30 after transplant

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pooja Khandelwal, MD, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Ramos KN, Langenberg L, Lake KE, Hoerth CA, Luebbering N, Haslam DB, Newburg D, Morrow AL, Ollberding NJ, Teusink-Cross A, Taggart C, Bota K, Cook E, Khoury R, Denson LA, Watanabe-Chailland M, Romick L, Davies SM, Khandelwal P. Human Milk Oligosaccharide (2'-FL) Modifies the Gut Microbiome in Children after Bone Marrow Transplant. Blood. 2026 Aug 11:blood.2026034172. doi: 10.1182/blood.2026034172. Online ahead of print.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 26, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 23, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): May 23, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 7, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 11, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 2, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 11, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: 2'-fucosyllactose
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2020-0008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No