Clinical Research Directory

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Mismatched Unrelated Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

This study is a single center, prospective, single arm exploratory clinical trial that includes patients with hematological malignancies who are indicated for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo HSCT) but lack suitable donors. This project plans to use highly mismatched unrelated HLA mismatched donors. Ultimately, an unrelated human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatched allo HSCT transplantation plan will be established to improve the disease prognosis of this group of patients and truly enter the era of "everyone has a donor" for allo HSCT.

Frailty in the Elderly Oncological and Oncohematological Patient.

The Italian population is progressively aging, and cancer incidence increases with age. Older patients are at higher risk of frailty, a condition associated with adverse outcomes such as disability, falls, hospitalization, and mortality. Key indicators of frailty include reduced balance, impaired physical activity, cognitive decline, and particularly sarcopenia, defined as the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. After age 60, muscle mass decreases by 1.4-2.5% annually, while muscle strength declines by 15% between ages 60-70 and by up to 30% per decade thereafter. Sarcopenia increases the risk of falls, fractures, hospitalization, and non-cancer-related death. In cancer patients, its prevalence ranges from 11% to 74% and is associated with poorer survival outcomes in both early and advanced disease stages.In clinical oncology practice, several tools are available to assess frailty, identify vulnerable patients, and personalize care, treatment, and supportive interventions.

Precise Design of Cell Therapy for Relapsed and Refractory Hematological Tumors

This clinical trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CAR-T cell therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancies.

UNIVERSAL GENETIC TESTING OF PATIENTS WITH HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES (UGT)

We propose to perform NGS and OGM with DNA extracted from bone marrow (BM; site of cancer) and NGS on skin fibroblast DNA (proxy for germline) on all patients with hematologic malignancies (HM) who undergo a standard-of-care BM biopsy at Georgia Cancer Center/Wellstar MCG Health. Simultaneous 4 mm punch skin biopsy for fibroblast culture will be obtained at the planned puncture site of the BM biopsy. The bone marrow biopsy and aspirate are already part of the patient's scheduled medical evaluation and the punch biopsy of the skin is the only additional procedure involved in the study.