T-Regulatory Cell Infusion Post Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant in Patients With Advanced Hematologic Cancer

Phase I Study of Infusion of Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) Derived CD25+CD4+ T-Regulatory (Treg) Cells After Nonmyeloablative Cord Blood Transplantation

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy, such as fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, and total-body irradiation before a donor umbilical cord blood transplant helps stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. The donated stem cells may replace the patient's immune cells and help destroy any remaining cancer cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). Giving an infusion of the donor's T-regulatory cells after the transplant may decrease this effect. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can also make an immune response against the body's normal cells. However, the donor immune system may also react against the recipient's tissues (graft-versus-host disease).

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of donor T-regulatory cells after an umbilical cord blood transplant in treating patients with advanced hematologic cancer or other disorder.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived T-regulatory (Treg) cells.

Secondary

• Estimate the proportion of patients with detectable circulating Treg cells at 0, 1, 3, 7, and 14 days after infusion.
• Estimate the risk of grades II-IV and III-IV acute graft versus host disease (GVHD) at day +100 with the infusion of Treg cells.
• Estimate the proportion of patients with sustained donor engraftment.
• Estimate the proportion of patients with double chimerism at 6 months and 1 year.
• Determine the speed and cumulative incidence of neutrophil recovery by day 42 and platelet recovery by 6 months after UCB transplantation.
• Estimate the risk of chronic GVHD at 1 year.
• Estimate the probability of disease-free survival at 100 days and 1 year.
• Estimate the risk of fungal and viral infections at 1 year
• Estimate the risk of relapse at 1 year
• Characterize the pattern of immune cell recovery over 1 year

OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study of umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived T-regulatory (Treg) cells. Patients receive nonmyeloablative UCB transplantation and post-transplant immunosuppression as in protocol UMN-2005LS036 (without antithymocyte globulin during conditioning regimen).

• Nonmyeloablative conditioning and UCB transplantation: Patients receive allopurinol on days -7 to day 0, fludarabine phosphate intravenously (IV) over 1 hour on days -6 to -2 and cyclophosphamide IV over 2 hours on day -6; undergo total-body irradiation (TBI) once on day -1; and undergo UCB transplantation on day 0.
• Immunosuppression therapy: Beginning on day -3 and continuing until day +100, patients receive sirolimus intravenously (IV) with 8-12 mg oral loading dose followed by a single dose of 4mg/day with a target serum concentration of 3-12 mg/mL with a taper until day +180. Patients also receive mycophenolate mofetil IV or orally every 8 hours on days -3 to +30.
• Radiation therapy: total body irradiation is administered on Day -1 of 200 cGy.
• UCB Treg cell infusion: Patients receive escalating doses of UCB-derived CD4+ CD25+ Treg cells IV on day +1 (and Day +15 for dose level 5 only) until the maximum tolerated dose is obtained.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed at day 180, 360, and 720.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ages 18 to 75 years old

• Eligible for and co-enrolled on protocol UMN-2005LS036, for treatment of any of the following advanced hematologic malignancies:

  • Acute leukemias in complete remission (high risk CR1 or subsequent CR); chronic myelogenous leukemia (except refractory blast crisis); myelodysplastic syndrome with severe pancytopenia or complex cytogenetics, large-cell lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, marginal zone b-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, mantle-cell lymphoma, prolymphocytic leukemia may be eligible after initial therapy.

• Have three partially HLA matched umbilical cord blood (UCB) units (1-2 units for UCB transplantation per MT2005-02 and 1 unit for the Treg cell infusion.)

• Adequate organ function

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients not exposed to highly immunosuppressive single agent or multi-agent chemotherapy within 3 months, or an ablative preparative regimen for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) within 1 year.
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Current active serious infection
• Evidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or known HIV positive serology
• Patients with acute leukemia in morphologic relapse/persistent disease defined as >5% blasts in a > or = 15% cellular bone marrow or any % blasts if blasts have unique morphologic markers (e.g., Auer rods) or associated cytogenetic markers that allows morphologic relapse to be distinguished are not eligible.
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia in refractory blast crisis.
• Active central nervous system malignancy.