Clinical Research Directory

Interleukin-15 and -21 Armored Glypican-3-specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor Expressed in T Cells for Pediatric Solid Tumors

Patients may be considered if the cancer has come back, has not gone away after standard treatment or the patient cannot receive standard treatment. This research study uses special immune system cells called CARE T cells, a new experimental treatment. The body has different ways of fighting infection and disease. No single way seems perfect for fighting cancers. This research study combines two different ways of fighting cancer: antibodies and T cells. Antibodies are types of proteins that protect the body from infectious diseases and possibly cancer. T cells, also called T lymphocytes, are special infection-fighting blood cells that can kill other cells, including cells infected with viruses and tumor cells. Both antibodies and T cells have been used to treat patients with cancers. They have shown promise, but have not been strong enough to cure most patients. Investigators have found from previous research that they can put a new gene (a tiny part of what makes-up DNA and carries a person's traits) into T cells that will make them recognize cancer cells and kill them. In the lab, investigators made several genes called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), from an antibody called GPC3. The antibody GPC3 recognizes a protein found solid tumors including pediatric liver cancers. This CAR is called GPC3-CAR. To make this CAR more effective, investigators also added two genes that includes IL15 and IL21, which are protein that helps CAR T cells grow better and stay in the blood longer so that they may kill tumors better. The mixture of GPC3-CAR and IL15 plus IL21 killed tumor cells better in the laboratory when compared with CAR T cells that did not have IL15 plus IL21 .This study will test T cells that investigators made (called genetic engineering) with GPC3-CAR and the IL15 plus IL21 (CARE T cells) in patients with GPC3-positive solid tumors. T cells made to carry a gene called iCasp9 can be killed when they encounter a specific drug called AP1903. The investigators will insert the iCasp9 and IL15 plus IL21 together into the T cells using a virus that has been made for this study. The drug (AP1903) is an experimental drug that has been tested in humans with no bad side-effects. The investigators will use this drug to kill the T cells if necessary due to side effects. This study will test T cells genetically engineered with a GPC3-CAR and IL15 plus IL21 (CARE T cells) in patients with GPC3-positive solid tumors. The CARE T cells are an investigational product not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The purpose of this study is to find the biggest dose of CARE T cells that is safe, to see how long they last in the body, to learn what the side effects are and to see if the CARE T cells will help people with GPC3-positive solid tumors.

Interleukin-15 Armored Glypican 3-specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor Expressed in Autologous T Cells for Solid Tumors

Patients may be considered if the cancer has come back, has not gone away after standard treatment or the patient cannot receive standard treatment. This research study uses special immune system cells called CATCH T cells, a new experimental treatment. The body has different ways of fighting infection and disease. No single way seems perfect for fighting cancers. This research study combines two different ways of fighting cancer: antibodies and T cells. Antibodies are types of proteins that protect the body from infectious diseases and possibly cancer. T cells, also called T lymphocytes, are special infection-fighting blood cells that can kill other cells, including cells infected with viruses and tumor cells. Both antibodies and T cells have been used to treat patients with cancers. They have shown promise, but have not been strong enough to cure most patients. Investigators have found from previous research that we can put a new gene (a tiny part of what makes-up DNA and carriesa person's traits) into T cells that will make them recognize cancer cells and kill them . In the lab, we made several genes called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), from an antibody called GC33. The antibody GC33 recognizes a protein called GPC3 that is found on the hepatocellular carcinoma the patient has. The specific CAR we are making is called GPC3-CAR. To make this CAR more effective, we also added a gene encoding protein called IL15. This protein helps CAR T cells grow better and stay in the blood longer so that they may kill tumors better. The mixture of GPC3-CAR and IL15 killed tumor cells better in the laboratory when compared with CAR T cells that did not have IL 15. This study will test T cells that we have made with CATCH T cells in patients with GPC3-positive solid tumors such as the ones participating in this study. T cells made to carry a gene called iCasp9 can be killed when they encounter a specific drug called AP1903. The investigators will insert the iCasp9 and IL15 together into the T cells using a virus that has been made for this study. The drug (AP1903) is an experimental drug that has been tested in humans with no bad side-effects. The investigators will use this drug to kill the T cells if necessary due to side effects. This study will test T cells genetically engineered with a GPC3-CAR and IL15 (CATCH T cells) in patients with GPC3-positive solid tumors. The CATCH T cells are an investigational product not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The purpose of this study is to find the biggest dose of CATCH T cells that is safe , to see how long they last in the body, to learn what the side effects are and to see if the CATCH T cells will help people with GPC3-positive solid tumors.

Immunotherapy for Solid Tumor Malignancies in Pediatrics Using Interleukin-15 and -21 Armored Glypican-3-specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells

This Phase 1, open-label, non-randomized study will enroll pediatric and young adult subjects with relapsed or refractory non-central nervous system (CNS) malignant solid tumors expressing glypican-3 (GPC3) to examine the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of administering T cell products derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) that have been genetically modified to co-express a GPC3-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), interleukin (IL)-15 and IL-21 as well as the inducible caspase 9 (iC9) suicide gene (SC-CAR.GPC3xIL15.21 T cells). A child or young adult meeting all eligibility criteria and meeting none of the exclusion criteria will have a blood sample collected, which will be used to bioengineer the CAR T cells targeting their tumor.

Interleukin-15 Armored Glypican 3-specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor Expressed in T Cells for Pediatric Solid Tumors

Patients may be considered if the cancer has come back, has not gone away after standard treatment or the patient cannot receive standard treatment. This research study uses special immune system cells called AGAR T cells, a new experimental treatment. The body has different ways of fighting infection and disease. No single way seems perfect for fighting cancers. This research study combines two different ways of fighting cancer: antibodies and T cells. Antibodies are types of proteins that protect the body from infectious diseases and possibly cancer. T cells, also called T lymphocytes, are special infection-fighting blood cells that can kill other cells, including cells infected with viruses and tumor cells. Both antibodies and T cells have been used to treat patients with cancers. They have shown promise, but have not been strong enough to cure most patients. Investigators have found from previous research that they can put a new gene (a tiny part of what makes-up DNA and carries your traits) into T cells that will make them recognize cancer cells and kill them. In the lab, investigators made several genes called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), from an antibody called GPC3. The antibody GPC3 recognizes a protein found solid tumors including pediatric liver cancers. This CAR is called GPC3-CAR. To make this CAR more effective, investigators also added a gene that includes IL15. IL15 is a protein that helps CAR T cells grow better and stay in the blood longer so that they may kill tumors better. The mixture of GPC3-CAR and IL15 killed tumor cells better in the laboratory when compared with CAR T cells that did not have IL15 .This study will test T cells that investigators made (called genetic engineering) with GPC3-CAR and the IL15 (AGAR T cells) in patients with GPC3-positive solid tumors such as yours. T cells made to carry a gene called iCasp9 can be killed when they encounter a specific drug called Rimiducid. The investigators will insert the iCasp9 and IL15 together into the T cells using a virus that has been made for this study. The drug (Rimiducid) is an experimental drug that has been tested in humans with no bad side-effects. The investigators will use this drug to kill the T cells if necessary due to side effects. This study will test T cells genetically engineered with a GPC3-CAR and IL15 (AGAR T cells) in patients with GPC3-positive solid tumors. The AGAR T cells are an investigational product not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The purpose of this study is to find the biggest dose of AGAR T cells that is safe, to see how long they last in the body, to learn what the side effects are and to see if the AGAR T cells will help people with GPC3-positive solid tumors.

Cytokine Armored GPC3 Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor Expressing T-cells in Adults With Solid Tumors

This Phase 1, open-label, non-randomized study will enroll adult subjects with relapsed or refractory non-central nervous system (CNS) malignant solid tumors expressing glypican-3 (GPC3) to examine the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of administering T cell products derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) that have been genetically modified to co-express a GPC3-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), interleukin (IL)-15 and IL-21 as well as the inducible caspase 9 (iC9) suicide gene (SC-CAR.GPC3xIL15.21 T cells). An adult participant meeting all eligibility criteria and meeting none of the exclusion criteria will have a blood sample collected, which will be used to bioengineer the CAR T cells targeting their tumor.

Immunotherapy For Adults With GPC3-Positive Solid Tumors Using IL-15 and IL-21 Armored GPC3-CAR T Cells

The body has different ways of fighting infection and disease. No single way seems perfect for fighting cancers. This research study combines two different ways of fighting cancer: antibodies and T cells. Antibodies are types of proteins that protect the body from infectious diseases and possibly cancer. T cells, also called T lymphocytes, are special infection-fighting blood cells that can kill other cells, including cells infected with viruses and tumor cells. Both antibodies and T cells have been used to treat patients with cancers. They have shown promise but have not been strong enough to cure most patients. In order to get them to kill cancers more effectively, in the laboratory, the study team inserted a new gene called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) into T cells that makes them recognize cancer cells and kill them. When inserted, this new CAR T cell can specifically recognize a protein found on solid tumors, called glypican-3 (GPC3). To make this GPC3-CAR more effective, the study team also added two genes called IL15 and IL21 that help CAR T cells grow better and stay in the blood longer so that they may kill tumors better. When the study team did this in the laboratory, they found that this mixture of GPC3-CAR,IL15 and IL21 killed tumor cells better when compared with CAR T cells that did not have IL15 plus IL21 in the laboratory. This study will use those cells, which are called 21.15.GPC3-CAR T cells, to treat patients with solid tumors that have GPC3 on their surface. The study team also wanted to make sure that they could stop the 21.15.GPC3-CAR T cells from growing in the blood should there be any bad side effects. In order to do so, they inserted a gene called iCasp9 into the CO-EXIST T cells. This allows us the elimination of 21.15.GPC3-CAR T cells in the blood when the gene comes into contact with a medication called AP1903. The drug (AP1903) is an experimental drug that has been tested in humans with no bad side-effects. This drug will only be used to kill the T cells if necessary due to side effects . The study team has treated patients with T cells that include GPC3. Patients have also been treated with IL-21 and with IL-15. Patients have not been treated with a combination of T cells that contain GPC3, IL-21 and IL-15. To summarize, this study will test the effect of 21.15.GPC3-CAR T cells in patients with solid tumors that express GPC3 on their surface. The 21.15.GPC3-CAR T cells are an investigational product not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Molecular Epidemiology of Pediatric Germ Cell Tumors

A Non-Therapeutic Study that aims to establish a cohort of GCT survivors to understand short term and long-term adverse effects of treatment and to conduct molecular analyses to improve risk stratification.

Agnostic Therapy in Rare Solid Tumors

The ANTARES study is a phase II basket trial designed to evaluate the tissue-agnostic efficacy of the monoclonal anti-PD1 antibody, nivolumab, in patients with advanced or metastatic rare tumors. The study aims to treat rare malignancies with PD-L1 expression (CPS ≥ 10), regardless of the tumor's tissue type or location. Patients who have not responded to standard treatments will be included, and treatment will last for up to 12 months. The study will assess objective response, progression-free survival, and biomarkers such as PD-L1, ctDNA, and microvesicles, in a multicenter collaborative effort to provide innovative therapeutic options for this underrepresented population

Standard-Dose Combination Chemotherapy or High-Dose Combination Chemotherapy and Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Germ Cell Tumors

This randomized phase III trial studies how well standard-dose combination chemotherapy works compared to high-dose combination chemotherapy and stem cell transplant in treating patients with germ cell tumors that have returned after a period of improvement or did not respond to treatment. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel, ifosfamide, cisplatin, carboplatin, and etoposide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving chemotherapy before a stem cell transplant stops the growth of cancer cells by stopping them from dividing or killing them. Giving colony-stimulating factors, such as filgrastim or pegfilgrastim, and certain chemotherapy drugs, helps stem cells move from the bone marrow to the blood so they can be collected and stored. Chemotherapy is then given to prepare the bone marrow for the stem cell transplant. The stem cells are then returned to the patient to replace the blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy. It is not yet known whether high-dose combination chemotherapy and stem cell transplant are more effective than standard-dose combination chemotherapy in treating patients with refractory or relapsed germ cell tumors.