palbociclib and dexamethasone in treating participants with relapsed or refractory b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Conditions: Recurrent B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Refractory B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Summary: this phase i trial studies the side effects and best dose of palbociclib when given together with dexamethasone in treating participants with b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia that has come back after a period of improvement or does not respond to treatment. palbociclib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. dexamethasone is a steroid medication that is used in combination with other medications to treat b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. giving palbociclib together with dexamethasone may work better in treating patients with b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

primary objectives: i. to determine the dose and schedule of the combination of palbociclib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory adult b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (all). ii. to determine the safety and tolerability of the combination of palbociclib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory adult b-cell all. secondary objectives: i. to evaluate the activity of palbociclib in combination with dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory b-cell all.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * patients must have histologic evidence of relapsed or refractory b-cell all * patients must have an eastern cooperative oncology group (ecog) performance status of 2 or less * philadelphia chromosome positive (ph+) patients must be refractory to or intolerant of standard tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy * patients must be able to consume oral medication * patients must have recovered to =\< grade 1 or stabilized from the toxic effects of any prior chemotherapy (except alopecia) * creatinine clearance (crcl) \>= 60 ml/min/1.73 m\^2 calculated by cockcroft-gault * total bilirubin \< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (uln) * negative serum or urine pregnancy test for women with child-bearing potential * patients must be able to sign consent and be willing and able to comply with scheduled visits, treatment plan, procedures, and laboratory testing exclusion criteria: * patients must not have evidence of active central nervous system (cns) disease * patients must not be receiving any chemotherapy agents (except hydroxyurea); intrathecal methotrexate and intrathecal cytarabine are permissible * patients must not be receiving growth factors (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor \[g-csf\], granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor \[gm-csf\]), except for erythropoietin * patient must not have a concurrent active malignancy for which they are receiving treatment. * patients with other severe concurrent disease which in the judgment of the investigator would make the patient inappropriate for entry into this study are ineligible * patients must not have received any investigational agents within 30 days of study entry unless they have exceeded 5 terminal half-lives of the previous study drug used for treatment * patients must not be pregnant or breastfeeding; pregnancy tests must be obtained for all females of child-bearing potential within 10 days prior to enrollment; males or women of childbearing potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method (defined as hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, surgical contraceptives, or condoms) * patients who have uncontrolled infection are not eligible; patients must have any active infections under control; fungal disease must have been adequately treated for at least 2 weeks before study entry; subjects with bacteremia must have documented negative blood cultures prior to study entry * patients who are candidates for allogeneic transplantation, have a suitable donor, and are willing to undergo transplantation * patients who are eligible for and willing to receive treatment with tisagenlecleucel.