Lymphoepithelioma clinical trials

LMP-specific T-cells for Patients With Relapsed EBV-positive Lymphoma

This protocol is broken up into 2 portions to determine the maximum tolerated dose for treating patients with a type of lymph gland disease. The 1st portion, called ALASCER are for people with a type of lymph gland cancer called Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin Lymphoma or Lymphoepithelioma which has returned or may return or has not gone away after treatment, including the best treatment we know for Lymphoma. While the 2nd portion (ALCI) also includes Lymphoepithelioma, severe chronic active EBV (SCAEBC), and leiomyosarcoma. Some patients with Lymphoma 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. Investigators want to see if special white blood cells, called T cells, that have been trained to kill EBV infected cells can survive in your blood and affect the tumor. The investigators have 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. The investigators 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 disease and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and SCAEBV, the tumor cells and B cells only express 2 EBV proteins. In a previous study we made T cells that recognized all 9 proteins and gave them to patients with Hodgkin disease. Some patients had a partial response to this therapy but no patients had a complete response. Investigators 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 we are trying to find out if we can improve this treatment by growing T cells that only recognize one of the proteins expressed on infected EBV Lymphoma cells called LMP-2a, and B cells called LMP1 and LMP2. These special T cells are called LMP specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs). The purpose of the study is to find the largest safe dose of LMP specific cytotoxic T cells, to learn what the side effects are and to see whether this therapy might help patients with Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Lymphoepithelioma, SCAEBV or leiomyosarcoma.