Injection of Active Allogeneic Natural Killer Cells in Patients With Gliomas

Overview

Gliomas are the most common malignant brain tumors, which are often associated with high-grade tumors characterized by an inferior prognosis and low patient survival rates in both children and adults. Surgical removal and tumor resection are the primary treatment approaches for gliomas. In such cases, whole-brain radiation therapy is also employed as a therapeutic option, which itself has significant side effects, and studies have shown limited impact on improving patient survival. Targeted therapy and recently investigated approaches such as targeted therapy have shown some tumor regression, but in most cases, tumor recurrence has been observed after initial regression. Therefore, they have a limited impact on prolonging patient survival. Immunotherapy, particularly immunotherapy with specific immune cells, can effectively identify and eliminate cancer cells and has been utilized as a new approach in the past two decades, especially in cancers where conventional methods have limited success. Among the effective immunotherapy methods, using natural killer cells (NK cells) can be one of the promising approaches. Currently, phase I clinical trials have been conducted by our research group in patients with gliomas.

Inclusion criteria: New diagnosed patients with grade 3 or 4 brain tumor, based on WHO classification, which are included in the one of the following conditions: • Astrocytoma, IDHmutant • Oligodendroglioma, IDH-mutant • Glioblastoma, IDH-wild type • Diffuse midline glioma • Diffuse hemispheric glioma • Diffuse pediatric-type high-grade glioma, IDH-wild type Age range of 3 to 60 years old both sex Lansky/Karnofsky performance score above 60 Obtained informed consent of patients or parents or legal attendance in cases of pediatrics Hemoglobin above 10 gr/dL of blood Absolute granulocyte count (AGC) above 500 per microliter of blood Platelet count above 50000 per microliter of blood INR below 2 and PTT less than 1.5 times of maximum normal value Plasma bilirubin level less than 1.5 times of maximum normal value Plasma hepatic transaminases (ALT and AST) level less than 3 times of maximum normal value Plasma creatinine level less than 1.5 times of maximum normal value Exclusion criteria: Evidence of radio necrosis in MRI or MRS Intolerance of new treatment due to emergency condition History of other malignancies History of any immunodeficiency diseases or any immune compromising conditions Rupture of cerebral shunt or unable to perform a lumbar puncture Pregnancy History of uncontrolled chronic diseases such as: Diabetes, CHF, liver cirrhosis, CKD, etc