The purpose of this study is to administer novel cluster of differentiation antigen 19 (CD19) specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells (CAR19 T-cells) to patients with relapsed or resistant Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) to assess the safety and efficacy of this strategy as a bridge to allogeneic transplantation.
Patients with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) resistant to or relapsing following rituximab-containing chemotherapy regimens have a poor prognosis. Patients may receive salvage chemotherapy and possibly an autologous stem cell transplant (auto-SCT). A proportion of these patients, however, will not respond to the chemotherapy or may relapse after the auto-SCT and therefore require novel treatment options. Such patients may benefit from an allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-STC). In this study the investigators aim to administer CAR19 T-cells to act as a bridge to the transplant strategy. Specifically, (1) the feasibility of generating CD19 specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells called CAR19 T-cells, (2) the safety of administering the CD19 CAR T-cells in this setting, (3) how well the CAR19 T-cells engraft and (4) to evaluate how effective these cells are as a bridge to allogeneic transplantation. Following informed consent and registration to the trial, patients will undergo an unstimulated leucapheresis for generation of the CAR19 T cells. Whilst the cells are being generated, patients will proceed with a further cycle of standard salvage (recommended ifosfamide, epirubicin and etoposide (i.e. the IVE regime), and should not receive rituximab. Patients will receive pre-conditioning with intravenous fludarabine and cyclophosphamide prior to infusion of a single dose of CAR-modified T-cells. An escalating dose protocol will be employed to identify a minimum effective dose of CAR19 T-cells.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
10
Patients will undergo leukapheresis prior to pre-conditioning chemotherapy to provide the immune cells required to produce the therapeutic product.
Patients will receive a standard pre-conditioning regime with cyclophosphamide 60mg/kg/day IV over 1 hour for 2 days (day-7 and day-6).
Fludarabine 25mg/m2/day IV over 15/30 minutes for 5 days (Day-5 to day-1).
University College London Hospital
London, United Kingdom
Feasibility of adequate leucapheresis collection and generation of CAR19 T cells.
The number of CAR19 T cells successfully manufactured as a fraction of the number of patients undergoing leukapheresis (all patients registered).
Time frame: 1 month
Toxicity evaluation following CAR19 T-cell administration.
Toxicity will be examined for each patient receiving CAR19 T cells, using the maximum grade for each toxicity type, all summarized as number of patients with adverse events.
Time frame: 1 year
Efficacy of CAR19 T-cells.
Efficacy will be defined as the number of patients that meet the clinical complete responders criteria.
Time frame: 1 year
CAR19 T-cell engraftment
1\. Engraftment, expansion and persistence of CAR19 T-cells. Detection of any level of CAR19 expression in circulating T cells (ie PBMC) by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and flow cytometry following infusion.
Time frame: 1 year
B cell compartment
2\. Depletion of B cell compartment. The percentage reduction from baseline. Absolute B cell numbers measured by flow of PBMC (cells/ul) .
Time frame: 1 year
Cytokine profile
3\. Timing and magnitude of cytokine release. Data on timing (kinetic of change) as the mean (or median) amount of cytokine (pg/ml) over a number of days post-infusion. Using the individual patient data, the mean (or median) time to peak value can be obtained. Magnitude - kinetic and peak of cytokine levels, notably Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-a), Interleukin- 6 (IL-6) and Interferon-gamma (IFN-g) (pg/ml), can be plotted for each patient, as means (or medians).
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The CAR19 T-cells are to be administered on day 0 at the dose specified by the Cancer Trials Centre (CTC) at the time of registration. Three dose cohorts are planned: * Dose Level 1: 2x105 CAR19 T-cells/kg * Dose Level 2: 1x106 CAR19 T-cells/kg * Dose Level 3: 5x106 CAR19 T-cells/kg
Time frame: 1 year
Clinical complete response
4\. Clinical response evaluated using standard PET-CT criteria at day 28 compared to baseline scan. Proportion of patients with complete response will be calculated.
Time frame: 1 month
Eligibility to allogeneic transplantation
5\. Number of patients proceeding to allogeneic transplantation out of all patients registered to the trial, and also only for those who received CAR19 T cells.
Time frame: 1-3 years