Belatacept Pilot Study in Lung Transplantation Immunosuppression in Lung Transplantation

Lung Transplant Rejection Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of De Novo Belatacept-Based Immunosuppression in Lung Transplantation

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03388008
• Other study ID #: Bela Lung Pilot
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: December 17, 2019
• Est. completion date: August 31, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: November 2022
• Source: Washington University School of Medicine
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This is a pilot randomized controlled trial examining the feasibility of conducting a large scale randomized controlled trial of belatacept-based immunosuppression in lung transplantation. This pilot study will enroll 40 lung transplant recipients and randomize them to belatacept-based immunosuppression or standard of care. The primary endpoint of the study is the development of donor-specific HLA antibodies after transplantation. All study participants will be followed for a minimum of 12 months after transplantation.

Description:

Lung transplantation is the ultimate treatment for patients with advanced lung disease. However, long-term outcomes remain disappointing and the median survival after transplantation is approximately 5.5 years. Beyond the first year after transplantation, chronic lung allograft dysfunction is the leading cause of death. The exact mechanisms that lead to chronic lung allograft dysfunction are unclear, but the development of donor-specific HLA antibodies is an independent risk factor. In fact, studies have consistently identified the development of donor-specific HLA antibodies as a significant and independent risk factor for chronic lung allograft dysfunction and mortality after transplantation.

Belatacept is a CTLA4-Ig fusion protein that binds CD80 and CD86 thereby blocking CD28 co-stimulatory signals. Belatacept has been extensively studied in kidney transplantation. In a long-term study, patients treated with Belatacept had better survival than those treated with Cyclosporine. Importantly, Belatacept-treated patients were significantly less likely to develop donor-specific HLA antibodies than Cyclosporine-treated patients. Nonetheless, Belatacept has not been formally evaluated after lung transplantation. The investigators hypothesize that Belatacept-based immunosuppression would result in a lower incidence of donor-specific HLA antibodies and that this would result in better chronic lung allograft dysfunction-free survival after transplantation. Before conducting a large scale randomized controlled trial to test this hypothesis, the investigators plan to conduct the current pilot randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility of conducting the large scale randomized controlled trial.

The investigators plan to enroll and randomize 40 lung transplant recipients at 2 sites. All recipients will be treated with anti-thymocyte globulin for induction immunosuppression. Those randomized to standard of care immunosuppression will be treated with Tacrolimus, Mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone. Those randomized to Belatacept-based immunosuppression will be treated with Belatacept, Tacrolimus, and prednisone for the first 89 days; on day 90, Mycophenolate mofetil will be substituted for Tacrolimus and patients will be continued on Belatacept, Mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone for the remainder of year 1 after transplantation.

Patients in both groups will be monitored closely for episodes of acute cellular rejection, lymphocytic bronchiolitis, and antibody-mediated rejection with surveillance bronchoscopy and transbronchial lung biopsies on days 28, 84, 112, 168, 252, and 365 (± 7 days) as part of the sites' routine clinical protocols. In addition, patients will be monitored for the development of donor-specific HLA antibodies with routine blood tests on on days 10 (± 3 days), 28, 56, 84, 112, 168, 252, and 365 (± 7 days).

The primary endpoint of the study is a composite of the development of donor-specific HLA antibodies, re-transplantation, and death. Secondary endpoints include acute cellular rejection, lymphocytic bronchiolitis, antibody-mediated rejection, chronic lung allograft dysfunction, survival, cytomegalovirus infection, bacterial infection, community-acquired respiratory viral infection, chronic kidney disease stage 3, malignancy, hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 27
• Est. completion date: August 31, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: August 31, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 70 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Provided written informed consent for study participation

• Underwent single or bilateral lung transplantation

• Negative urine pregnancy test for women of child bearing potential and willingness to use highly-effective contraception

Exclusion Criteria:

• Requiring invasive mechanical ventilation immediately before transplantation

• Requiring extracorporeal life support (ECLS) (i.e., ECMO) immediately before transplantation

• Received treatment to deplete HLA antibodies before transplantation to improve the possibility of transplantation

• Having DSA immediately before transplantation (i.e., positive virtual crossmatch)

• Listed for multi-organ transplant (e.g., heart-lung, liver-lung, kidney-lung)

• Pregnant or breast-feeding

• Active infection with Hepatitis B or C virus

• Active infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

• Chronic infection with Burkholderia cepacia complex before transplantation

• Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) seronegative status

• Participation in another interventional clinical trial

• Allograft dysfunction requiring ECMO support after transplantation

• Delayed chest closure after transplantation

• Severe coagulopathy and significant bleeding in the opinion of the PI

• Any condition that in the opinion of the site PI introduces undue risk by participating in this study

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Antibody-mediated Rejection
• Lung Transplant Rejection

Intervention

Drug:
• Belatacept
Belatacept will be dosed at 10 mg/kg of actual body weight on days 0, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 84 then at 5 mg/kg on day 112 and every 28 days through day 364 (i.e., on days 140, 168, 196, 224, 252, 280, 308, 336, and 364)
• Tacrolimus
Tacrolimus will be dosed enterally or sublingually within 48 hours of transplantation and the dose will be adjusted to target a trough blood level of 8-15 ng/ml
• ATG
Anti-thymocyte globulin will be dosed intravenously at 3 mg/kg divided into 3 daily doses starting on day 0 after transplantation
• Mycophenolate Mofetil
Mycophenolate mofetil will be dosed at 1000 mg twice daily (or if the enteric coated formulation is used, this will be dosed at 720 mg twice daily. In the standard of care arm, mycophenolate mofetil will be initiated on day 0 after transplantation, whereas in the belatacept-based immunosuppression arm, mycophenolate mofetil will be initiated on day 90 after transplantation
• Methylprednisolone
Methylprednisolone 500 mg will be given intravenously before perfusion of the allograft during the transplant procedure, then methylprednisolone 0.5 mg/kg will be given intravenously twice daily for 6 total doses
• Prednisone
Prednisone will be dosed at 0.5 mg/kg orally daily through day 14, then 0.2 mg/kg orally daily through day 30, then 0.1 mg/kg daily through day 180, then 5 mg daily through day 365

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Houston Methodist Hospital	Houston	Texas
United States	Washington University School of Medicine	Saint Louis	Missouri

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Washington University School of Medicine	Bristol-Myers Squibb, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (23)

Bharat A, Kuo E, Steward N, Aloush A, Hachem R, Trulock EP, Patterson GA, Meyers BF, Mohanakumar T. Immunological link between primary graft dysfunction and chronic lung allograft rejection. Ann Thorac Surg. 2008 Jul;86(1):189-95; discussion 196-7. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2008.03.073. — View Citation

Daud SA, Yusen RD, Meyers BF, Chakinala MM, Walter MJ, Aloush AA, Patterson GA, Trulock EP, Hachem RR. Impact of immediate primary lung allograft dysfunction on bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007 Mar 1;175(5):507-13. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200608-1079OC. Epub 2006 Dec 7. — View Citation

Estenne M, Maurer JR, Boehler A, Egan JJ, Frost A, Hertz M, Mallory GB, Snell GI, Yousem S. Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome 2001: an update of the diagnostic criteria. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2002 Mar;21(3):297-310. doi: 10.1016/s1053-2498(02)00398-4. No abstract available. — View Citation

Finlen Copeland CA, Snyder LD, Zaas DW, Turbyfill WJ, Davis WA, Palmer SM. Survival after bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome among bilateral lung transplant recipients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010 Sep 15;182(6):784-9. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201002-0211OC. Epub 2010 May 27. — View Citation

Fukami N, Ramachandran S, Saini D, Walter M, Chapman W, Patterson GA, Mohanakumar T. Antibodies to MHC class I induce autoimmunity: role in the pathogenesis of chronic rejection. J Immunol. 2009 Jan 1;182(1):309-18. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.182.1.309. — View Citation

Girnita AL, Duquesnoy R, Yousem SA, Iacono AT, Corcoran TE, Buzoianu M, Johnson B, Spichty KJ, Dauber JH, Burckart G, Griffith BP, McCurry KR, Zeevi A. HLA-specific antibodies are risk factors for lymphocytic bronchiolitis and chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Am J Transplant. 2005 Jan;5(1):131-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2004.00650.x. — View Citation

Girnita AL, McCurry KR, Iacono AT, Duquesnoy R, Corcoran TE, Awad M, Spichty KJ, Yousem SA, Burckart G, Dauber JH, Griffith BP, Zeevi A. HLA-specific antibodies are associated with high-grade and persistent-recurrent lung allograft acute rejection. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2004 Oct;23(10):1135-41. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2003.08.030. — View Citation

Glanville AR, Aboyoun CL, Havryk A, Plit M, Rainer S, Malouf MA. Severity of lymphocytic bronchiolitis predicts long-term outcome after lung transplantation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008 May 1;177(9):1033-40. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200706-951OC. Epub 2008 Feb 8. — View Citation

Hachem RR, Khalifah AP, Chakinala MM, Yusen RD, Aloush AA, Mohanakumar T, Patterson GA, Trulock EP, Walter MJ. The significance of a single episode of minimal acute rejection after lung transplantation. Transplantation. 2005 Nov 27;80(10):1406-13. doi: 10.1097/01.tp.0000181161.60638.fa. — View Citation

Jaramillo A, Smith CR, Maruyama T, Zhang L, Patterson GA, Mohanakumar T. Anti-HLA class I antibody binding to airway epithelial cells induces production of fibrogenic growth factors and apoptotic cell death: a possible mechanism for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. Hum Immunol. 2003 May;64(5):521-9. doi: 10.1016/s0198-8859(03)00038-7. — View Citation

Lama VN, Murray S, Lonigro RJ, Toews GB, Chang A, Lau C, Flint A, Chan KM, Martinez FJ. Course of FEV(1) after onset of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in lung transplant recipients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007 Jun 1;175(11):1192-8. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200609-1344OC. Epub 2007 Mar 8. — View Citation

Le Pavec J, Suberbielle C, Lamrani L, Feuillet S, Savale L, Dorfmuller P, Stephan F, Mussot S, Mercier O, Fadel E. De-novo donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies 30 days after lung transplantation are associated with a worse outcome. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2016 Sep;35(9):1067-77. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2016.05.020. Epub 2016 May 31. — View Citation

Maruyama T, Jaramillo A, Narayanan K, Higuchi T, Mohanakumar T. Induction of obliterative airway disease by anti-HLA class I antibodies. Am J Transplant. 2005 Sep;5(9):2126-34. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2005.00999.x. — View Citation

Meyer KC, Raghu G, Verleden GM, Corris PA, Aurora P, Wilson KC, Brozek J, Glanville AR; ISHLT/ATS/ERS BOS Task Force Committee; ISHLT/ATS/ERS BOS Task Force Committee. An international ISHLT/ATS/ERS clinical practice guideline: diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. Eur Respir J. 2014 Dec;44(6):1479-503. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00107514. Epub 2014 Oct 30. — View Citation

Mohan S, Palanisamy A, Tsapepas D, Tanriover B, Crew RJ, Dube G, Ratner LE, Cohen DJ, Radhakrishnan J. Donor-specific antibodies adversely affect kidney allograft outcomes. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Dec;23(12):2061-71. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2012070664. Epub 2012 Nov 15. — View Citation

Singer JP, Singer LG. Quality of life in lung transplantation. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2013 Jun;34(3):421-30. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1348470. Epub 2013 Jul 2. — View Citation

Streitz M, Miloud T, Kapinsky M, Reed MR, Magari R, Geissler EK, Hutchinson JA, Vogt K, Schlickeiser S, Kverneland AH, Meisel C, Volk HD, Sawitzki B. Standardization of whole blood immune phenotype monitoring for clinical trials: panels and methods from the ONE study. Transplant Res. 2013 Oct 25;2(1):17. doi: 10.1186/2047-1440-2-17. — View Citation

Tikkanen JM, Singer LG, Kim SJ, Li Y, Binnie M, Chaparro C, Chow CW, Martinu T, Azad S, Keshavjee S, Tinckam K. De Novo DQ Donor-Specific Antibodies Are Associated with Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction after Lung Transplantation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2016 Sep 1;194(5):596-606. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201509-1857OC. — View Citation

Verleden GM, Raghu G, Meyer KC, Glanville AR, Corris P. A new classification system for chronic lung allograft dysfunction. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014 Feb;33(2):127-33. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2013.10.022. Epub 2013 Oct 24. — View Citation

Vincenti F, Charpentier B, Vanrenterghem Y, Rostaing L, Bresnahan B, Darji P, Massari P, Mondragon-Ramirez GA, Agarwal M, Di Russo G, Lin CS, Garg P, Larsen CP. A phase III study of belatacept-based immunosuppression regimens versus cyclosporine in renal transplant recipients (BENEFIT study). Am J Transplant. 2010 Mar;10(3):535-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2009.03005.x. — View Citation

Vincenti F, Larsen C, Durrbach A, Wekerle T, Nashan B, Blancho G, Lang P, Grinyo J, Halloran PF, Solez K, Hagerty D, Levy E, Zhou W, Natarajan K, Charpentier B; Belatacept Study Group. Costimulation blockade with belatacept in renal transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2005 Aug 25;353(8):770-81. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa050085. — View Citation

Vincenti F, Larsen CP, Alberu J, Bresnahan B, Garcia VD, Kothari J, Lang P, Urrea EM, Massari P, Mondragon-Ramirez G, Reyes-Acevedo R, Rice K, Rostaing L, Steinberg S, Xing J, Agarwal M, Harler MB, Charpentier B. Three-year outcomes from BENEFIT, a randomized, active-controlled, parallel-group study in adult kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant. 2012 Jan;12(1):210-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2011.03785.x. Epub 2011 Oct 12. — View Citation

Yusen RD, Edwards LB, Kucheryavaya AY, Benden C, Dipchand AI, Goldfarb SB, Levvey BJ, Lund LH, Meiser B, Rossano JW, Stehlik J. The Registry of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation: Thirty-second Official Adult Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation Report--2015; Focus Theme: Early Graft Failure. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2015 Oct;34(10):1264-77. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2015.08.014. Epub 2015 Sep 3. No abstract available. — View Citation

* Note: There are 23 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Donor-specific HLA Antibodies, Re-transplantation, or Death	The Outcome Measure is a composite primary endpoint of the development of donor-specific HLA antibodies, re-transplantation, or death. Testing for donor-specifc HLA antibodies was performed at study-specified time points using the single antigen bead assay at the study core lab. Donor-specific HLA antibodies were defined as reactivity with a mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) = 2,000.	365 days