Prospective Phase I/II Study: Patient-individualized Peptide Vaccination Based on Whole Exome Sequencing With Adjuvant GM-CSF (Granulocyte Macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor) in Children and Young Adults With Primary/Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 30
- Locations
- 10
- Primary Endpoint
- Primary endpoint is "success of treatment" defined as a patient showing a vaccination-induced T-cell response without unacceptable toxicity and acute GvHD of Grade III or higher or extensive chronic GvHD until day 120 (after 10 vaccinations).
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The aim of this clinical study is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of an individualized peptide vaccination approach in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). For this purpose, tumor-specific mutations are analyzed by comparative exome sequencing of tumor and healthy reference tissue. Expression of variants is further validated by RNA sequencing. In a second step, HLA-binding (human leukocyte antigen-binding) peptides derived from mutated protein sequences are selected for vaccination. The peptides are administered as a vaccination cocktail with adjuvant GM-CSF and Imiquimod over a course of 9 months and a total of 16 vaccinations. Primary objective is the de novo induction of a specific T cell response without unacceptable toxicity and acute GvHD (graft versus host disease).
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Na
- Intervention Model
- Single Group
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 1 Year to 30 Years (Child, Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Pediatric patients and young adults with ALL (T, B, pro-B, pre-B or c-ALL) ≥CR3 or with ≥1st relapse after stem cell transplantation (SCT); or patients in ≤CR2 who have received SCT without having reached a sufficient molecular remission prior to, or after SCT (defined as MRD ≥10^-4); or patients with initially refractory disease to standard treatment who could proceed to stem cell transplantation with alternative treatment options.
- •Hematological remission has to be reached (<5% blasts in bone marrow or detectable minimal residual disease (MRD) ≤5x10^-2) after salvage chemotherapy and/or subsequent SCT.
Exclusion Criteria
- •Frank relapse (>5% leukemic blasts).
- •Ejection fraction <25%; Creatinine-clearance <40ml/min; Bilirubin >4mg/dl, Transaminases >400 units/ml; severe infection (HIV, Hepatitis), acute GvHD III-IV or chronic GvHD.
- •Significant psychiatric disabilities, uncontrolled seizure disorders or severe peripheral neuropathy/ leukoencephalopathy.
- •Signs of autoimmune disease (i.e. idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, autoimmune hemolytic anemia).
- •Need for immunosuppressive drugs.
- •No tumor material available for exome sequencing.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Primary endpoint is "success of treatment" defined as a patient showing a vaccination-induced T-cell response without unacceptable toxicity and acute GvHD of Grade III or higher or extensive chronic GvHD until day 120 (after 10 vaccinations).
Time Frame: 120 days
Side effects wil be assessed according to NCI common toxicity criteria V4.0. GvHD will be graded according to Glucksberg criteria. A vaccine-specific response will be defined by an at least 2-fold elevated cytokine expression of CD4+ and/or CD8+ T cells over background in response to stimulation with the vaccine peptides. A vaccine-induced response will be defined by an at least 2-fold elevated response at a certain timepoint compared to pre-vaccination.
Secondary Outcomes
- To evaluate CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cell responses over the vaccination period.(246 days)
- To evaluate the relapse rate during and after treatment.(246 days)
- To evaluate changes in minimal residual disease (MRD) during and after treatment.(246 days)
- To evaluate the event-free survival (EFS) during and after treatment.(246 days)
Investigators
Peter Lang
Prof. Dr. med.
University Children's Hospital Tuebingen