Clinical trial NCT02772198: T-cells Expressing Anti-CD19 CAR in Pediatric and Young Adults With B-cell Malignancies
Official title: A Phase 1 / 2 Single Arm Study of T-cells Expressing Anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients With B-cell Malignancies
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE1
PHASE2
Conditions: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, B-precursor
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, B-cell
Lead sponsor: Sheba Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER_GOV
First posted: 2016-05-13
Enrollment: 300
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 1
Maximum age (years): 50
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This phase 1 / 2 study will evaluate the response of B-cell malignancies expressing CD19 to autologous T cells transduced with a second generation anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor in children and young adults.

Detailed description: Autologous T cells transduced with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) that recognize the CD19 antigen (CD19-CAR T cells) have been used in multiple clinical trials at several institutions worldwide. We established an in-house manufacturing process for CD19-CAR T cells with a CD28 (cluster of differentiation 28) costimulatory domain.

Primary Objectives:

1. To study the safety of administration of CAR T cell at the Sheba Medical Center
2. To determine the feasibility and efficacy of administering anti-CD19-CAR T cells in children and young adults with B cell malignancies.

Secondary Objectives

1. To study in vivo and in vitro behavior of CAR T cell in patients, including persistence, expansion, cytotoxic potential and exhaustion.
2. To study the cytokine milieu in CAR treated patients.

Eligibility Patients 1-50 years of age, with a CD19-expressing B-cell malignancy that has recurred after, or not responded to, one or more standard chemotherapy-containing regimens.

Design Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)will be obtained by leukapheresis. Anti-CD19 CAR T cells will be manufactured from fresh autologous PBMCs. PBMC will be cultured in the presence of anti-CD3 (cluster of differentiation 3) antibody and interleukin-2 followed by retroviral vector supernatant containing the anti-CD19 CAR. Total culture time is between 7-10 days. Patients will receive lymphodepleting chemotherapy composed of cyclophosphamide and fludarabine prior to cell infusion, and on day 0 will receive one million CAR T cells per kilogram. Patients will be monitored for toxicity including cytokine release syndrome, hematologic toxicities and B-cell aplasia; for response of their underlying malignancy; and for CAR-T cell persistence in the blood, marrow and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patient with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancy
* Age 1-50 years
* CD19 expression shown by flow cytometry or immunohistochemistry on at least 70% of leukemic blasts / lymphoma cells
* Adequate CD3 count (above 250 CD3+ cells per microliter blood)
* Clinical performance status: Patients \> 10 years of age: Karnofsky ≥ 50%; Patients ≤ 10 years of age: Lansky scale ≥ 50%. Exception for neurologic symptoms (e.g. paralysis) that are explained by the malignancy.
* Females of child-bearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test
* Cardiac function: Left ventricular ejection fraction \>45% or shortening fraction \>28%
* For patients following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation - at least 100 days post BMT with no signs or symptoms of active graft-versus-host disease.

Key Exclusion Criteria:

* Hyperleukocytosis (WBC\>50,000) or rapidly progressive disease
* Pregnant or breast-feeding females
* Hepatic dysfunction, defined as bilirubin \> x2 upper normal limit (except when explained by hemolysis or Gilbert) or serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase \> x25 upper normal limit.
* Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or HIV infection.
* Anti-neoplastic treatment given in the 2 weeks prior to apheresis, with the exception of intrathecal chemotherapy.
* Active immunosuppressive therapy

Primary outcomes:
measure: Number of patients with treatment related adverse events as assessed by CTCAE v4.
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Overall Response Rate
timeFrame: 28 days
measure: Feasibility of CD19 CAR T cell production as defined by number of products successfully meeting release criteria
timeFrame: 12 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: CAR T cell persistence as measured by enumeration of CAR T cells in the blood and bone marrow of participants
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: T cell activity and exhaustion profile as measured by flow cytometry
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Cytokine levels in the peripheral blood of the patients
timeFrame: 30 days
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ramat Gan
country: Israel
facility: Chaim Sheba Medical Center
Study officials:
References:
citation: Itzhaki O, Jacoby E, Nissani A, Levi M, Nagler A, Kubi A, Brezinger K, Brayer H, Zeltzer LA, Rozenbaum M, Vernitsky H, Markel G, Toren A, Avigdor A, Schachter J, Besser MJ. Head-to-head comparison of in-house produced CD19 CAR-T cell in ALL and NHL patients. J Immunother Cancer. 2020 Mar;8(1):e000148. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2019-000148.
citation: Fried S, Avigdor A, Bielorai B, Meir A, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Shimoni A, Nagler A, Toren A, Jacoby E. Early and late hematologic toxicity following CD19 CAR-T cells. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2019 Oct;54(10):1643-1650. doi: 10.1038/s41409-019-0487-3. Epub 2019 Feb 26.
citation: Jacoby E, Bielorai B, Avigdor A, Itzhaki O, Hutt D, Nussboim V, Meir A, Kubi A, Levy M, Zikich D, Zeltzer LA, Brezinger K, Schachter J, Nagler A, Besser MJ, Toren A. Locally produced CD19 CAR T cells leading to clinical remissions in medullary and extramedullary relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Am J Hematol. 2018 Dec;93(12):1485-1492. doi: 10.1002/ajh.25274. Epub 2018 Sep 26.
citation: Ernst M, Oeser A, Besiroglu B, Caro-Valenzuela J, Abd El Aziz M, Monsef I, Borchmann P, Estcourt LJ, Skoetz N, Goldkuhle M. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for people with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Sep 13;9(9):CD013365. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013365.pub2.
citation: Nissani A, Lev-Ari S, Meirson T, Jacoby E, Asher N, Ben-Betzalel G, Itzhaki O, Shapira-Frommer R, Schachter J, Markel G, Besser MJ. Comparison of non-myeloablative lymphodepleting preconditioning regimens in patients undergoing adoptive T cell therapy. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 May;9(5):e001743. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-001743.