2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of treating patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with both peripheral blood stem cells from a family member and umbilical cord blood stem cells from an unrelated donor. Patients with SAA or MDS for whom other treatments have failed or are not available may be eligible for this study. Candidates may not have a tissue-matched sibling or matched unrelated donor and must have a family member who is a partial tissue type match. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures: * Insertion of a central intravenous (IV) line (plastic tube) into a large vein. The tube is used for giving the donated stem cells and antibiotics and other medicines, for transfusions of red blood cells and platelets, and for collecting blood samples. * Preparatory chemotherapy (fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and anti-thymocyte globulin) and total body irradiation to suppress immunity and prevent rejection of the donated cells. * Infusion of the donated stem cells and umbilical cord cells. * Immune suppression with the drugs tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and prednisone to prevent rejection of the donated cells and to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a complication of stem cell transplants in which the donors immune cells destroy the patients healthy tissues. The average hospital stay after stem cell transplantation is 3 to 4 weeks. Patients return for frequent follow-up visits for the first 2 to 4 months after transplantation. Once the patient returns home, his or her referring physician is asked to send results of any laboratory testing to the NIH researchers at least every 3 months for the first 3 years and annually thereafter. Patient follow-up visits are scheduled at NIH at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years after transplantation to monitor for signs of disease or post-transplantation complications, such as infection or GVHD. After 5 years, participants are offered the opportunity to enroll in NHLBIs long-term evaluation and follow-up care protocol.
Alvocidib, a cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK 9) inhibitor, in time-sequential therapy demonstrated significant clinical activity in secondary AML patients with prior MDS. Patients with IPSS-R intermediate and above MDS have an increased risk of developing AML and may be treated with the same chemotherapy regimens used in patients with AML. Eight Phase I or II clinical trials have been completed in patients with AML, totaling more than 400 patients with both relapsed/refractory or newly diagnosed AML. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that decitabine exposure increased the expression of NOXA, which is a specific antagonist of the survival factor MCL 1. Pharmacologic downregulation of MCL-1 via CDK 9 inhibition, as well as upregulation of the MCL-1 antagonist, NOXA, following decitabine exposure may result in enhanced antileukemic activity in MCL-1-dependent malignancies.