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ImmunosuppresionPhase 2NCT00260689

Three Immunosuppressive Treatment Regimens for Severe Aplastic Anemia

A Phase 2 study testing Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit), Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse) and Cyclosporine in people with Immunosuppresion and Thrombocytopenia, run by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a life-threatening bone marrow failure disorder characterized by pancytopenia and a hypocellular bone marrow. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation offers the opportunity for cure in 70% of patients, but most patients are not suitable candidates for hematopoietic stem cell… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 2 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Immunosuppresion, Thrombocytopenia, Pancytopenia
What is being tested?
Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit), Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse) and Cyclosporine
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
136 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
28 Nov 2005to 4 May 2016
Phase
Phase 2
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 2 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

None listed.

Who cannot join

  • Diagnosis of Fanconi's anemia
  • Evidence of a clonal disorder on cytogenetics. Patients with super severe neutropenia (ANC less than 200/microliter) will not be excluded initially if cytogenetics are not available or pending. If evidence of a clonal disorder is later identified, the patient will go off study.
  • Prior immunosuppressive therapy with ATG, ALG, alemtuzumab, or high dose cyclophosphamide.
  • Infection not adequately responding to appropriate therapy.
  • Serologic evidence of HIV infection.
  • Failure to discontinue the herbal supplements Echinacea purpurea or Usnea barbata (Old Man's Beard) within 2 weeks of enrollment.
Show all 10Show fewer
  • Moribund status or concurrent hepatic, renal, cardiac, neurologic, pulmonary, infectious, or metabolic disease of such severity that it would preclude the patient's ability to tolerate protocol therapy, or that death within 7-10 days is likely.
  • Potential subjects with cancer who are on active chemotherapeutic treatment or who take drugs with hematological effects will not be eligible.
  • Current pregnancy, or unwillingness to take oral contraceptives or refrain from pregnancy if of childbearing potential.
  • Not able to understand the investigational nature of the study or give informed consent.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike

    Bethesda, Maryland, 20892

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: A Randomized Study of Three Immunosuppressive Regimens in Treatment Naive Patients With Severe Aplastic Anemia: Horse ATG/CsA Taper vs Rabbit-ATG/CsA vs Alemtuzumab

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a life-threatening bone marrow failure disorder characterized by pancytopenia and a hypocellular bone marrow. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation offers the opportunity for cure in 70% of patients, but most patients are not suitable candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) due to advanced age or lack of a histocompatible donor. For these patients, comparable long term survival is attainable with immunosuppressive treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CsA). However, of those patients treated with horse ATG(h-ATG)/CsA, one quarter to one third will not respond, and about 50% of responders relapse. Auto-reactive T cells may be resistant to the effect of ATG/CsA (non-responders), while in others residual auto-reactive T cells expand post-treatment, leading to hematopoietic stem cell destruction and recurrent pancytopenia (relapse). As long term survival is correlated to response rates and robustness of hematopoietic recovery, novel immunosuppressive regimens that can achieve hematologic response and decrease relapse rates are needed.

This trial will compare the effectiveness of three immunosuppressive regimens as first line therapies in patients with SAA with early hematologic response as the primary endpoint, as well as assess the role of extended CsA treatment after h-ATG in reducing numbers of late events of relapse and clonal evolution. Randomization is employed to obtain an equal distribution of subject to each arm; comparisons of early hematologic responses will be made among the rates observed among the three concurrent arms (rabbit-ATG [r-ATG] versus standard h-ATG; alemtuzumab vs standard h-ATG). For long course CSA, comparison of primary end points will be to well established historic relapse rate of 38% at 2-3 years and a cumulative rate of clonal evolution of 15%.

Read the detailed description

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a life-threatening bone marrow failure disorder characterized by pancytopenia and a hypocellular bone marrow. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation offers the opportunity for cure in 70% of patients, but most patients are not suitable candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) due to advanced age or lack of a histocompatible donor. For these patients, comparable long term survival is attainable with immunosuppressive treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CsA). However, of those patients treated with horse ATG(h-ATG)/CsA, one quarter to one third will not respond, and about 50% of responders relapse. Auto-reactive T cells may be resistant to the effect of ATG/CsA (non-responders), while in others residual auto-reactive T cells expand post-treatment, leading to hematopoietic stem cell destruction and recurrent pancytopenia (relapse). As long term survival is correlated to response rates and robustness of hematopoietic recovery, novel immunosuppressive regimens that can achieve hematologic response and decrease relapse rates are needed.

This trial will compare the effectiveness of three immunosuppressive regimens as first line therapies in patients with SAA with early hematologic response as the primary endpoint, as well as assess the role of extended CsA treatment after h-ATG in reducing numbers of late events of relapse and clonal evolution. Randomization is employed to obtain an equal distribution of subject to each arm; comparisons of early hematologic responses will be made among the rates observed among the three concurrent arms (rabbit-ATG [r-ATG] versus standard h-ATG; alemtuzumab vs standard h-ATG). For long course CSA, comparison of primary end points will be to well established historic relapse rate of 38% at 2-3 years and a cumulative rate of clonal evolution of 15%.

In the original design subjects were randomized to one of three different regimens: h-ATG + 6 months CsA followed by an 18 month CsA taper; r-ATG + 6 months CsA; or alemtuzumab (Campath). Subjects failing to respond to r-ATG will be crossed over to alemtuzumab (Campath), and subjects failing alemtuzumab (Campath) will be crossed over to r-ATG. Subjects failing to respond to h-ATG + CsA taper will go off study and be evaluated for eligibility for a second course of immunosuppression on companion protocol 03-H-0249, which similarly randomizes subjects between r-ATG and alemtuzumab (Campath) as salvage therapy.

The Campath arm was closed to new accrual for lack of efficacy on 4/10/2008. Subsequently, new accruals will be randomized to h-ATG + 6 months CsA followed by an 18 month CsA taper or r-ATG + 6 months CsA. Subjects failing to respond to h-ATG + CsA taper will go off study and be evaluated for eligibility for a second course of immunosuppression on companion protocol 03-H-0249, which similarly randomizes subjects between r-ATG and alemtuzumab (Campath ) as salvage therapy. Subjects who fail to respond to r-ATG + 6 months CsA will be offered treatment with h-ATG as salvage therapy or will go off-study to alternative treatments or stem cell transplant (from sibling or unrelated donor).

The primary endpoint will be hematologic response, defined as no longer meeting criteria for SAA, at 6 months. Secondary endpoints are relapse, robustness of hematologic recovery at 6 months, response at 3 and 12 months, survival, clonal evolution to PNH, myelodysplasia and acute leukemia. Long-course CSA will be assessed separately for its efficacy in reducing late events of relapse and evolution by comparison to historical control data.

Being tested
Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit), Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse), Cyclosporine, Alemtuzumab
Keywords
Immunosuppression, T-cells, Hematopoiesis, Autoimmunity, Thrombocytopenia, Severe Aplastic Anemia, SAA
Medical subject headings
Thrombocytopenia, Pancytopenia, Neutropenia, Autoimmune Diseases, Anemia, Aplastic

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit)Biological

  • Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse)Biological

  • CyclosporineDrug

  • AlemtuzumabDrug

    Also called Campath

Study groups in NCT00260689
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Horse ATG/CsA taperExperimentalh-ATG (Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse)) + 6 months CsA (Cyclosporine) followed by an 18 month CsA taper
Receives: Biological: Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse); Drug: Cyclosporine
Rabbit ATG/CsAExperimentalr-ATG (Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit)) + 6 months CsA (Cyclosporine)
Receives: Biological: Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit); Drug: Cyclosporine
AlemtuzumabExperimentalAlemtuzumab administered for 10 days
Receives: Drug: Alemtuzumab

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Hematologic Response

    Hematologic response is defined as subjects having blood counts no longer meeting the standard ("Camitta") criteria for severe pancytopenia in Severe Aplastic Anemia, equivalent to 2 of the following values obtained on 2 serial blood count measurements at least one week apart at landmark time points (3, 6 and 12 months)

    • Absolute neutrophil count > 500/ μL
    • Platelet count > 20,000/ μL
    • Reticulocyte count > 60,000/ μL

    Improvement in counts that are dependent upon exogenously administered growth factors or transfusion will not be considered as fulfilling response criteria.

    Measured: 3 months

  2. Hematologic Response

    Hematologic response is defined as subjects having blood counts no longer meeting the standard ("Camitta") criteria for severe pancytopenia in Severe Aplastic Anemia, equivalent to 2 of the following values obtained on 2 serial blood count measurements at least one week apart at landmark time points (3, 6 and 12 months)

    • Absolute neutrophil count > 500/ μL
    • Platelet count > 20,000/ μL
    • Reticulocyte count > 60,000/ μL

    Improvement in counts that are dependent upon exogenously administered growth factors or transfusion will not be considered as fulfilling response criteria.

    Measured: 6 months

  3. Hematologic Response

    Hematologic response is defined as subjects having blood counts no longer meeting the standard ("Camitta") criteria for severe pancytopenia in Severe Aplastic Anemia, equivalent to 2 of the following values obtained on 2 serial blood count measurements at least one week apart at landmark time points (3, 6 and 12 months)

    • Absolute neutrophil count > 500/ μL
    • Platelet count > 20,000/ μL
    • Reticulocyte count > 60,000/ μL

    Improvement in counts that are dependent upon exogenously administered growth factors or transfusion will not be considered as fulfilling response criteria.

    Measured: 12 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted1 Dec 2005 (estimated)
  2. Study start28 Nov 2005
  3. Primary completion4 May 2016
  4. Study completion4 May 2016

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
136 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00260689
Sponsor's protocol ID
060034
Other IDs
06-H-0034
Status last verified
15 May 2017
First submitted
1 Dec 2005
Last updated
8 Jun 2017
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: NIH Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS)

Publications

  • Young NS, Barrett AJ. The treatment of severe acquired aplastic anemia. Blood. 1995 Jun 15;85(12):3367-77. No abstract available.

    PubMed 7780125
  • Young NS, Maciejewski J. The pathophysiology of acquired aplastic anemia. N Engl J Med. 1997 May 8;336(19):1365-72. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199705083361906. No abstract available.

    PubMed 9134878
  • Zoumbos NC, Gascon P, Djeu JY, Trost SR, Young NS. Circulating activated suppressor T lymphocytes in aplastic anemia. N Engl J Med. 1985 Jan 31;312(5):257-65. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198501313120501.

    PubMed 2981406
  • Feng X, Scheinberg P, Biancotto A, Rios O, Donaldson S, Wu C, Zheng H, Sato K, Townsley DM, McCoy JP, Young NS. In vivo effects of horse and rabbit antithymocyte globulin in patients with severe aplastic anemia. Haematologica. 2014 Sep;99(9):1433-40. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2014.106542. Epub 2014 Jun 6.

    PubMed 24907357
  • Scheinberg P, Townsley D, Dumitriu B, Scheinberg P, Weinstein B, Rios O, Wu CO, Young NS. Horse antithymocyte globulin as salvage therapy after rabbit antithymocyte globulin for severe aplastic anemia. Am J Hematol. 2014 May;89(5):467-9. doi: 10.1002/ajh.23669. Epub 2014 Mar 7.

    PubMed 24415649
  • Scheinberg P, Nunez O, Weinstein B, Scheinberg P, Wu CO, Young NS. Activity of alemtuzumab monotherapy in treatment-naive, relapsed, and refractory severe acquired aplastic anemia. Blood. 2012 Jan 12;119(2):345-54. doi: 10.1182/blood-2011-05-352328. Epub 2011 Nov 8.

    PubMed 22067384
  • Scheinberg P, Nunez O, Weinstein B, Scheinberg P, Biancotto A, Wu CO, Young NS. Horse versus rabbit antithymocyte globulin in acquired aplastic anemia. N Engl J Med. 2011 Aug 4;365(5):430-8. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1103975.

    PubMed 21812672
  • Zaimoku Y, Patel BA, Adams SD, Shalhoub R, Groarke EM, Lee AAC, Kajigaya S, Feng X, Rios OJ, Eager H, Alemu L, Quinones Raffo D, Wu CO, Flegel WA, Young NS. HLA associations, somatic loss of HLA expression, and clinical outcomes in immune aplastic anemia. Blood. 2021 Dec 30;138(26):2799-2809. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021012895.

    PubMed 34724566
  • Giudice V, Wu Z, Kajigaya S, Fernandez Ibanez MDP, Rios O, Cheung F, Ito S, Young NS. Circulating S100A8 and S100A9 protein levels in plasma of patients with acquired aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Cytokine. 2019 Jan;113:462-465. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2018.06.025. Epub 2018 Jun 27.

    PubMed 29958797
  • Giudice V, Banaszak LG, Gutierrez-Rodrigues F, Kajigaya S, Panjwani R, Ibanez MDPF, Rios O, Bleck CK, Stempinski ES, Raffo DQ, Townsley DM, Young NS. Circulating exosomal microRNAs in acquired aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Haematologica. 2018 Jul;103(7):1150-1159. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2017.182824. Epub 2018 Apr 19.

    PubMed 29674506
  • Hosokawa K, Kajigaya S, Feng X, Desierto MJ, Fernandez Ibanez MD, Rios O, Weinstein B, Scheinberg P, Townsley DM, Young NS. A plasma microRNA signature as a biomarker for acquired aplastic anemia. Haematologica. 2017 Jan;102(1):69-78. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2016.151076. Epub 2016 Sep 22.

    PubMed 27658437

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing Anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit), Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse) and Cyclosporine in people with Immunosuppresion and Thrombocytopenia, run by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 0 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 8 Jun 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 8 Jun 2017). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Hematologic Response (time frame: 3 months). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00260689, which also lists 11 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 8 Jun 2017.

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