Administration of TAA-Specific CTLs; Hodgkin or Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; TACTAL (NCT01333046)

🩺 Plain-English Summary (8th-Grade Level)

Patients have a type of lymph gland disease called Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma which has come back, or may come back, or has not gone away after treatment, including the standard treatment known for these diseases. This a research study using special immune system cells called tumor associated antigen (TAA)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, a new experimental therapy. This sort of therapy has been used previously to treat Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphomas that show proof of infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis ("mono" or the "kissing disease"). EBV is found in cancer cells of up to half of all patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This suggests that it may play a role in causing lymphoma. The cancer cells infected by EBV are able to hide from the body's immune system and escape being killed. Investigators tested whether special white blood cells, called T cells, that were trained to kill EBV-infected cells could affect these tumors, and in many patients it was found that giving these trained T cells caused a complete or partial response. However, many patients do not have EBV in their lymphoma cells; therefore investigators now want to test whether it is possible to direct these special T cells against other types of proteins on the tumor cell surface with similar promising results. The proteins that will be targeted in this study are called tumor associated antigens (TAAs) - these are cell proteins that are specific to the cancer cell, so they either do not show or show up in low quantities on normal human cells. In this study, we will target five TAAs which commonly show on lymphoma, called: NY-ESO-1, MAGEA4, PRAME, Survivin and SSX. This will be done by using special types of T cells called cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) generated in the lab. In addition, some adult patients will receive a drug called azacytidine before giving the T cells. We hope that the combination helps the T cells work better.

Who can join: Review the eligibility criteria below.

Location: Houston Methodist Hospital — Houston, Texas

Age range: 18 Years