View clinical trials related to Acute Leukemia.
Filter by:The protocol is a phase I open label study evaluating the safety and feasibility of peri-transplant infusion of freshly expanded interferon gamma primed MSCs in adult and pediatric patients undergoing HCT for acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a rapidly fatal malignancy of the bone marrow. It can be treated with chemotherapy alone, in some cases, but in the majority of cases, the only treatment that can cure the disease is an allogeneic stem cell transplant, with a cure rate of 30-40%. In another subset, the disease is less responsive to chemotherapy and in these aggressive forms, its cure rate is no better than 20% beyond 2 years, and is usually rapidly fatal within 6 months. Therefore, for this most aggressive form of the disease, modifications to the transplant protocol are required in order to try to improve on these poor results. There are a number of areas within the transplant protocol on which modifications can be made in order to achieve these goals. These include: higher doses of chemotherapy and or radiation; alterations of the new bone marrow graft; and alterations of the immune suppression, enhancing the graft vs. leukemia effect. By focusing on one or more of these components, one might be able to enhance the anti-leukemic aspect of the treatment resulting in a more successful outcome. One aspect the investigators, in Ottawa, have focused on is the initial intensive conditioning regimen, specifically the radiation component. It is the investigators belief that in the most resistant disease it is important to use the highest tolerable anti-leukemic treatment upfront, specifically, enhancing the radiation component of the initial conditioning regimen. Previous studies have suggested that higher doses of radiation might be more effective at eliminating the disease, however, toxicity and logistics of delivering the radiation have limited its use. Technical advances in the delivery of radiation have now permitted the safer use of high doses of radiation. Through modifications to the transplant procedure, the investigators believe that they can deliver higher doses of radiation safely and this will translate into improved outcomes in this high-risk subgroup of patients with AML. Study Objectives The goal of this study is to determine if a total dose of 18Gy ED-TBI followed by an alloHSCT for patients with refractory AML will result in an improved progression-free survival.