View clinical trials related to Epstein-Barr Virus Infections.
Filter by:In this study, investigators are trying to see if LMP specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) will prevent or treat disease called Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) Disorder including either Hodgkin Lymphoma or non-Hodgkin Lymphoma or Lymphoepithelioma or severe chronic active EBV infection syndrome (SCAEBV) or Leiomyosarcoma which has come back or has not gone away after treatment, including the best treatment. Investigators are using special immune system cells called third party LMP specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), a new experimental therapy. Some patients with Lymphoma or SCAEBV or Leiomyosarcoma show evidence of infection with the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis Epstein Barr virus (EBV) before or at the time of their diagnosis. EBV is found in the cancer cells of up to half the patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, suggesting that it may play a role in causing Lymphoma. The cancer cells (in lymphoma) and some B cells (in SCAEBV) infected by EBV are able to hide from the body's immune system and escape destruction. The investigators want to see if special white blood cells, called T cells, that have been trained to kill EBV infected cells can survive in patient's blood and affect the tumor or infection. Investigators used this sort of therapy to treat a different type of cancer that occurs after bone marrow or solid organ transplant called post transplant lymphoma. In this type of cancer the tumor cells have 9 proteins made by EBV on their surface. They grew T cells in the laboratory that recognized all 9 proteins and were able to successfully prevent and treat post transplant lymphoma. However in Hodgkin Lymphoma, the tumor cells and B cells only express 2 EBV proteins. In a previous study they made T cells that recognized all 9 proteins and gave them to patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Some patients had a partial response to this therapy but no patients had a complete response. They think one reason may be that many of the T cells reacted with proteins that were not on the tumor cells. In this present study the investigators are trying to find out if the investigators can improve this treatment by growing T cells that recognize proteins expressed on EBV infected Lymphoma cells and B cells called LMP-1 and LMP2. These special T cells are called third party LMP 1/2 -specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs). These LMP-specific cytotoxic T cells are an investigational product not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Patients will be receiving a stem cell transplant as treatment for their disease. As part of the stem cell transplant, patients will be given very strong doses of chemotherapy, which will kill all their existing stem cells. A close relative of the patient will be identified, whose stem cells are not a perfect match for the patient's, but can be used. This type of transplant is called "allogeneic", meaning that the cells are from a donor. With this type of donor who is not a perfect match, there is typically an increased risk of developing GvHD, and a longer delay in the recovery of the immune system. GvHD is a serious and sometimes fatal side-effect of stem cell transplant. GvHD occurs when the new donor cells (graft) recognize that the body tissues of the patient (host) are different from those of the donor. In this study, investigators are trying to see whether they can make special T cells in the laboratory that can be given to the patient to help their immune system recover faster. As a safety measure, we want to "program" the T cells so that if, after they have been given to the patient, they start to cause GvHD, we can destroy them ("suicide gene"). Investigators will obtain T cells from a donor, culture them in the laboratory, and then introduce the "suicide gene" which makes the cells sensitive to a specific drug called AP1903. If the specially modified T cells begin to cause GvHD, the investigators can kill the cells by administering AP1903 to the patient. We have had encouraging results in a previous study regarding the effective elimination of T cells causing GvHD, while sparing a sufficient number of T cells to fight infection and potentially cancer. More specifically, T cells made to carry a gene called iCasp9 can be killed when they encounter the drug AP1903. To get the iCasp9 gene into T cells, we insert it using a virus called a retrovirus that has been made for this study. The AP1903 that will be used to "activate" the iCasp9 is an experimental drug that has been tested in a study in normal donors with no bad side-effects. We hope we can use this drug to kill the T cells. The major purpose of this study is to find a safe and effective dose of "iCasp9" T cells that can be given to patients who receive an allogeneic stem cell transplant. Another important purpose of this study is to find out whether these special T cells can help the patient's immune system recover faster after the transplant than they would have otherwise.
The purpose of this study is to test the safety of giving the patient special cells from a donor called "Modified T-cells". The goal is to assess the toxicities of T-cells for patients with relapsed B cell leukemia or lymphoma after a blood SCT organ SCT or for patients who are at high risk for relapse of their B cell leukemia or lymphoma.