1. Phase I/II trial of a combination of anti-CD3/CD7 immunotoxins for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease
- Author
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Groth, Christoph, van Groningen, Lenneke F J, Matos, Tiago R, Bremmers, Manita E, Preijers, Frank W M B, Dolstra, Harry, Reicherts, Christian, Schaap, Nicolaas P M, van Hooren, Eric H G, IntHout, Joanna, Netea, Mihai G, Masereeuw, Rosalinde, Levine, John E, Morales, George, Ferrara, James L, Blijlevens, Nicole M A, van Oosterhout, Ypke V J M, Stelljes, Matthias, van der Velden, Walter J F M, Afd Pharmacology, Pharmacology, Dermatology, Graduate School, AII - Inflammatory diseases, Afd Pharmacology, and Pharmacology
- Subjects
Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,medicine.medical_treatment ,T cell ,CD3 ,Cancer development and immune defence Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences [Radboudumc 2] ,lnfectious Diseases and Global Health Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences [Radboudumc 4] ,Graft vs Host Disease ,Gastroenterology ,Article ,Young Adult ,Immune system ,All institutes and research themes of the Radboud University Medical Center ,Immunotoxin ,Internal medicine ,hemic and lymphatic diseases ,medicine ,Humans ,Hypoalbuminemia ,Prospective Studies ,Adverse effect ,Aged ,Transplantation ,Acute graft-versus-host disease ,biology ,business.industry ,Immunotoxins ,Immunosuppression ,Hematology ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Women's cancers Radboud Institute for Health Sciences [Radboudumc 17] ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Acute Disease ,biology.protein ,Inflammatory diseases Radboud Institute for Health Sciences [Radboudumc 5] ,Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ,Antibody ,business ,Rare cancers Radboud Institute for Health Sciences [Radboudumc 9] - Abstract
Effective therapies for treating patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host-disease (SR-aGVHD), particularly strategies that reduce the duration of immunosuppression following remission, are urgently needed. The investigated immunotoxin combination consists of a mixture of anti-CD3 and anti-CD7 antibodies separately conjugated to recombinant ricin A (CD3/CD7-IT), which induces in vivo depletion of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells and suppresses T cell receptor activation. We conducted a phase I/II trial to examine the safety and efficacy of CD3/CD7-IT in 20 patients with SR-aGVHD; 17 of these patients (85%) had severe SR-aGVHD, and all 20 patients had visceral organ involvement, including 18 (90%) with gastrointestinal (GI) involvement and 5 (25%) with liver involvement. A validated 2-biomarker algorithm classified the majority of patients (11 of 20) as high risk. On day 28 after the start of CD3/CD7-IT therapy, the overall response rate was 60% (12 of 20), with 10 patients (50%) achieving a complete response. The 6-month overall survival rate was 60% (12 of 20), including 64% (7 of 11) classified as high risk by biomarkers. The 1-week course of treatment with CD3/CD7-IT caused profound but transient depletion of T cells and NK cells, followed by rapid recovery of the immune system with a diverse TCR Vβ repertoire, and preservation of Epstein-Barr virus- and cytomegalovirus-specific T cell clones. Furthermore, our results indicate that CD3/CD7-IT appeared to be safe and well tolerated, with a relatively low prevalence of manageable and reversible adverse events, primarily worsening of hypoalbuminemia, microangiopathy, and thrombocytopenia. These encouraging results suggest that CD3/CD7-IT may improve patient outcomes in patients with SR-aGVHD.
- Published
- 2019