Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) With Donor Leukocyte Infusion to Treat Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes Post Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

A Phase 2 Trial of Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in Combination With Donor Leukocyte Infusion (DLI) to Treat Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (alloSCT)

This phase 2 study aims to confirm the efficacy observed in the prior phase 1 trial in Cohort 1 and to evaluate the safety of IFN-γ in combination with DLI in Cohort 2, the haploidentical donor alloSCT recipient cohort. The study will further contribute to this effort through the collection of leukemia cells pre- and post-in vivo IFN-γ therapy. As in the previously conducted phase 1 trial, this trial will assess whether leukemia blasts are responsive to IFN-γ in vitro and in vivo. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) will be performed to evaluate transcriptomic changes induced by IFN-γ in leukemia cell subsets, including those with stem cell characteristics.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Myelodysplastic Syndromes
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Interferon gamma-1b; Biological: Donor Leukocyte Infusion (DLI)

Detailed Description

This novel regimen has the potential to address a significant unmet need for this high-risk population of patients who have few, if any, effective therapeutic options. In Cohort 1, if this trial confirms the clinical efficacy of IFN-γ/DLI in patients with relapsed AML/MDS after HLA-matched alloSCT, it may establish a new therapeutic approach for post-transplant AML/MDS relapse. Cohort 2 will further evaluate the safety and potential efficacy of IFN-γ/DLI in patients with relapsed AML/MDS after haploidentical alloSCT, where treatment options are also limited and the risk of GVHD requires careful assessment. Together, these cohorts would provide a rationale to explore additional indications for IFN-γ in the context of alloSCT, including 1) IFN-γ/DLI for relapsed disease after haploidentical alloSCT; 2) pre-emptive post-alloSCT treatment of patients transplanted with measurable residual disease (MRD) or with poor-risk AML/MDS, such as disease with TP53 mutations; and 3) prevention of relapse in patients who can only tolerate reduced-intensity conditioning regimens, which in most studies are associated with higher rates of post-alloSCT AML/MDS relapse than intensive conditioning regimens. Collectively, this work may allow more patients with AML/MDS to be referred for and ultimately benefit from alloSCT.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 57
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Linda Elias, RN; Phone Number: 412-623-6037; Email: eliaslj@upmc.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Amy Rodger, RN; Phone Number: 412-623-4036; Email: rodgax@upmc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Missouri
    • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
      • Recruiting
      • Washington University
      • Principal Investigator: John DiPersio, MD, PhD
      • Contact: Ayan Gasanli, MBA; Phone Number: 314-747-2449; Email: agasanli@wustl.edu
      • Contact: Ryan Monahan, MBA; Phone Number: 314-454-8377; Email: rmonahan@wustl.edu
  • Pennsylvania
    • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15232
      • Recruiting
      • UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
      • Contact: Linda Elias, RN; Phone Number: 412-623-6037; Email: eliaslj@upmc.edu
      • Contact: Amy Rodger, RN; Phone Number: 412-623-4036; Email: rodgax@upmc.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Sawa Ito, MD, PhD
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98109
      • Recruiting
      • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
      • Contact: Alisa Bradford; Phone Number: 206-667-2834; Email: ajbradfo@fredhutch.org
      • Contact: Elizabeth Frecker, B.S., SMB-A; Phone Number: 206-667-4129; Email: efrecker@fredhutch.org
      • Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Krakow, MD, CM, MS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age ≥ 18 years
2. Recipients of an alloSCT for AML or MDS from a minimally 8/8 HLA-matched donor (Cohort 1: HLA -matched alloSCT recipients) or recipients of a haploidentical donor SCT for AML or MDS from a minimally 4/8 HLA-matched donor (Cohort 2: Haplo-SCT recipients)

3. AML/MDS relapsed post-alloSCT with measurable residual disease defined by either of the following criteria:

   1. At least 5% or more myeloblasts based on bone marrow biopsy morphology by pathologist review. Abnormal myeloblasts cannot not exceed 30% overall 36
   2. At least 0.1% of abnormal myeloblasts with a leukemia-associated immunophenotype (LAIP) by multiparameter flow cytometry. The abnormal cells with LAIP should not exceed 30% of nucleated cells.
   3. Recurrent or persistent cytogenetic abnormalities detectable by FISH or karyotype analysis.
   4. For patients with mutant NPM1, at least 1,000 mutant transcript copies per 106 ABL or equivalent housekeeping transcripts in bone marrow by qPCR or dPCR
4. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status (PS) 0-2
5. A DLI is available, or the donor is available and agrees to undergo apheresis to collect lymphocytes for infusion

6. If salvage therapy for post-alloSCT relapse was received, the therapy is limited to 1 line of the following:

   1. For hypomethylating agents, venetoclax, and targeted therapies (e.g., tyrosine kinase inhibitors, IDH1/IDH2 inhibitors, or FLT3 inhibitors), the last dose must be > 2 week prior to the initiation of IFN-γ
   2. For cytotoxic chemotherapy agents, the last dose must be >2 weeks prior to start of treatment for the present study
   3. For investigational agents, the last dose must be ≥ 4 weeks or 5 half-lives (whichever is longer) prior to the start of treatment for the present study
7. Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
8. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
9. For female subject, who is < 55 years old without hysterectomy, oophorectomy or documented menopause, willingness to use two forms of contraception including one form of highly effective contraception (i.e., long-acting reversible contraception, oral contraceptive pills) for the duration of the study
10. For male subject, willingness to use highly effective contraception methods including male condoms by male subject and one form of highly effective contraception by his female partner (i.e., long-acting reversible contraception, oral contraceptive pills) for the duration of the study

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Primary engraftment failure after alloSCT
2. Evidence of mixed phenotype leukemia with lymphoid differentiation (Cohort 1: HLA -matched alloSCT recipients)
3. Grade 3 or 4 aGVHD per Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium (MAGIC) at the time of planned enrollment
4. History of grade 4 aGVHD per the MAGIC criteria
5. Moderate or severe cGVHD per NIH Consensus Criteria at time of planned enrollment
6. Any systemic immunosuppressive medications taken within 2 weeks before the enrollment
7. Grade 3 or higher non-hematologic toxicity related to any prior therapy at the time of enrollment
8. A contraindication to receive IFN-γ including a known hypersensitivity to IFN-γ, E. coli derived products or any other component of the product
9. Positive pregnancy test or currently breastfeeding on Day 1 of study treatment 37
10. Active cardiac arrhythmia not controlled by medical management or current NYHA class II or higher congestive heart failure within 2 months of enrollment unless it was due to a tachyarrhythmia which is under control at the time of enrollment
11. Active ischemic heart disease not controlled with medications within 2 months of enrollment
12. Acute or chronic pulmonary disease requiring continuous oxygen treatment
13. Seizure disorder not controlled by medications within 2 months of enrollment
14. AST or ALT > 5x ULN or total bilirubin >3x ULN at time of enrollment
15. Renal function CrCl <30 mL/min at time of enrollment using modified Cockcroft-Gault formula
16. Detection of HLA loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in relapsed malignant cells. Specifically, there has been a loss of the mismatched set of HLA alleles encoded on chromosome 6 (ie uniparental disomy of chromosome 6), within 30 days prior to enrollment (Cohort 2: Haplo-SCT recipients)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cohort 1: IFN-γ + DLI (HLA-matched donor alloSCT recipient cohort); ACTIMMUNE® (IFN-γ-1b) at a dose of 50 mcg/m^2 (All participants will receive a 4-week period of IFN-γ monotherapy with ACTIMMUNE 100 mcg 3 times a week. This dose and schedule will be continued for 4 additional weeks and then tapered to 100 mcg weekly for an additional 4 weeks) DLI at a dose of 10^7 CD3+ cells/kg (DLI doses will be given pending clinical assessment for disease, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and peripheral blood donor chimerism the week prior to DLI. Second DLI dose is only offered to subjects with residual disease not requiring cytotoxic therapy and without GVHD)	Drug: Interferon gamma-1b; ACTIMMUNE/Interferon gamma-1b is a single-chain polypeptide containing 140 amino acids that is produced by fermentation of a genetically engineered Escherichia coli bacterium containing the DNA which encodes for the recombinant protein. Interferon gamma-1b is part of a drug regimen used to treat Chronic Granulomatous Disease, or CGD. CGD is a genetic disorder, usually diagnosed in childhood, that affects some cells of the immune system and the body's ability to fight infections effectively.; Other Names: ACTIMMUNE®; Biological: Donor Leukocyte Infusion (DLI); Donor lymphocyte infusion is a procedure that transfers healthy white blood cells (lymphocytes) from a bone marrow or stem cell donor to a recipient's blood. An infusion of healthy lymphocytes helps the recipient's immune system get rid of remaining cancer cells if they have a relapse after a bone marrow or stem cell transplant for blood cancer.
Experimental: Cohort 2: IFN-γ + DLI (Haploidentical donor alloSCT recipient cohort); ACTIMMUNE® (IFN-γ-1b) at a dose of 50 mcg/m^2 (All participants will receive a 4-week period of IFN-γ monotherapy with ACTIMMUNE 100 mcg 3 times a week. This dose and schedule will be continued for 4 additional weeks and then tapered to 100 mcg weekly for an additional 4 weeks) DLI at a 1st dose of 10^6 CD3+ cells/kg, 2nd dose at a dose of 10^7 CD3+ cells/kg (DLI doses will be given pending clinical assessment for disease, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and peripheral blood donor chimerism the week prior to DLI. Second DLI dose is only offered to subjects with residual disease not requiring cytotoxic therapy and without GVHD)	Drug: Interferon gamma-1b; ACTIMMUNE/Interferon gamma-1b is a single-chain polypeptide containing 140 amino acids that is produced by fermentation of a genetically engineered Escherichia coli bacterium containing the DNA which encodes for the recombinant protein. Interferon gamma-1b is part of a drug regimen used to treat Chronic Granulomatous Disease, or CGD. CGD is a genetic disorder, usually diagnosed in childhood, that affects some cells of the immune system and the body's ability to fight infections effectively.; Other Names: ACTIMMUNE®; Biological: Donor Leukocyte Infusion (DLI); Donor lymphocyte infusion is a procedure that transfers healthy white blood cells (lymphocytes) from a bone marrow or stem cell donor to a recipient's blood. An infusion of healthy lymphocytes helps the recipient's immune system get rid of remaining cancer cells if they have a relapse after a bone marrow or stem cell transplant for blood cancer.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Event-free survival (EFS)	Cohort 1: Occurrence of treatment failure, hematologic relapse from a CR (complete remission)/CRh/Cri), or death observed from start of IFN-γ treatment. Patients alive at 1 year after start of treatment will be censored on the date of last contact.	At 1 year
Incidence of steroid- and ruxolitinib- refractory GVHD within 12 weeks after the first dose of IFN-γ	Cohort 2: Lack of improvement after 7 days of methylprednisolone 2 mg/kg, AND, either of the following; Progression of graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) compared with baseline after 10 days of ruxolitinib, based either on an objective increase in stage/grade or new organ involvement Or; Lack of improvement in GVHD (PR or better) compared with baseline after at least 14 days of ruxolitinib.	12 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Event-free survival (EFS) - Landmark 1-year	Time from start of IFN-γ treatment until event of death, date of treatment failure, or hematologic relapse from a CR/CRh/Cri. CR is defined by blasts less than 5% by morphology defined by bone marrow blasts less than 5%; absence of circulating blasts; absence of extramedullary disease; absolute neutrophil count (ANC) at or greater than 1,000/mL; platelet count at or greater than 100,000/mL CRh is defined by ANC at or greater than 500/mL and platelet count at or greater than 50,000/mL otherwise all other CR criteria met. CRi is defined by all CR criteria except for residual neutropenia less than 1,000/mL or thrombocytopenia less than 100,000/mL Treatment failure is not achieving either CR, CRh or CRi by 6 months. Patients evaluable for response without CR, CRh or CRi by 6 months and patients who die before 6 months without response assessments are considered an event at day 1 of IFN-γ treatment	Up to 1 year
Minimal residual disease (MRD)	Rate of complete remission (CR) with no measurable disease at 6 months. CR is defined as	At 6 months
Complete Remission (CR)	Proportion of patients who experience Complete Remission (CR). CR is defined by bone marrow blasts less than 5%; absence of circulating blasts; absence of extramedullary disease; absolute neutrophil count (ANC) at or greater than 1,000/mL; platelet count at or greater than 100,000/mL. The proportion of responders will be calculated as the number of responders divided by the number of evaluable patients.	At 6 months
Complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh)	Proportion of patients who experience Complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh). CRh is defined by ANC at or greater than 500/mL and platelet count at or greater than 50,000/mL otherwise all other CR criteria met. The proportion of responders will be calculated as the number of responders divided by the number of evaluable patients.	At 6 months
Complete remission with incomplete count recovery (CRi)	Proportion of patients who experience complete remission with incomplete count recovery (CRi). CRi is defined by all CR criteria except for residual neutropenia less than 1,000/mL or thrombocytopenia less than 100,000/mL51. The proportion of responders (CR, CRh, or CRi) will be calculated as the number of responders divided by the number of evaluable patients. The proportion of responders will be calculated as the number of responders divided by the number of evaluable patients.	At 6 months
Overall survival	Time from start of IFN-γ to death by any cause or censored on the date of last contact.	Up to 1 year
Rate of donor chimerism	Proportion of the efficacy population with ≥95% peripheral blood CD3+ and CD33+ cells and of unfractionated bone marrow being donor-derived	At 6 months
Rate of transfusion independence	Proportion of the subjects who achieve the absence of a red-cell or platelet transfusion for at least 56 days between the first and last day of treatment.	At 1 year
Frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs)	Number of patients who experience an Adverse Event or Serious Adverse Event related to study treatment, per CTCAE v5.0 criteria. Distinct number of patients will be determined per each event type by highest grade experienced.	Up to 6 months
Frequency of new onset grade 3 or 4 acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD)	number of patients meeting criteria for grade 3 or 4 aGVHD per MAGIC divided by the number of evaluable patients. The MAGIC criteria as follows: Overall clinical grade (based on most severe target organ involvement): Grade 0: No stage 1-4 of any organ; Grade I: Stage 1-2 skin without liver, upper GI, or lower GI involvement; Grade II: Stage 3 rash and/or stage 1 liver and/or stage 1 upper GI and/or stage 1 lower GI; Grade Ill: Stage 2-3 liver and/or stage 2-3 lower GI, with stage 0-3 skin and/or stage 0-1 upper GI; Grade IV: Stage 4 skin, liver, or lower GI involvement, with stage 0-1 upper GI.	Up to 12 months
Frequency of new onset moderate or severe chronic GVDH (cGVHD)	The number of patients meeting criteria for moderate or severe cGVHD per NIH Consensus Criteria divided by the number of evaluable patients. The NIH Consensus Criteria is a diagnostic assessment that evaluates hair, skin, nails, eyes, mouth, genitalia, GI tract, liver, lung, muscles and joints, hematopoietic and immune system, cardiac and neurological condition/function, to determine whether or not the GVHD is chronic.	Up to 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sawa Ito, MD
• Collaborators: Amgen; FDA Office of Orphan Products Development; Evans MDS Discovery Research Grant
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sawa M Ito, MD, PhD, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 23, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 26, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 26, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): July 31, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 11, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 6, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: interferon-γ (IFN-γ); donor leukocyte infusion (DLI); allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT)
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Hematologic Diseases; Leukemia, Myeloid; Bone Marrow Diseases; Leukemia; Hemic and Lymphatic Diseases; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Myelodysplastic Syndromes; Anti-Infective Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Antiviral Agents; interferon gamma-1b
• Other Study ID Numbers: HCC 23-160; 1R01FD008187-01 (U.S. FDA Grant/Contract)

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