Viewing Study NCT06643221



Ignite Creation Date: 2024-10-26 @ 3:42 PM
Last Modification Date: 2024-10-26 @ 3:42 PM
Study NCT ID: NCT06643221
Status: RECRUITING
Last Update Posted: None
First Post: 2024-10-08

Brief Title: Exercise as an Immune Adjuvant for Allogeneic Cell Therapies
Sponsor: None
Organization: None

Study Overview

Official Title: Exercise-induced Adrenergic Receptor Signaling as an Immune Adjuvant for Allogeneic Cell Therapies
Status: RECRUITING
Status Verified Date: 2024-10
Last Known Status: None
Delayed Posting: No
If Stopped, Why?: Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access: No
If Expanded Access, NCT#: N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status: N/A
Acronym: Allo-X
Brief Summary: This study aims to improve the treatment of blood cancer by using exercise to collect healthier immune cells from donors Allogeneic adoptive cell therapy is a treatment where immune cells from a healthy donor are given to a cancer patient usually to help prevent or treat cancer relapse after a stem cell transplant These donor cells can either be directly infused into the patient or grown in a lab to create more specialized immune cells that target and kill cancer While this therapy has been helpful for many patients there is a need to make it more effective for a larger group and reduce side effects like graft-versus-host disease GvHD where the donors immune cells attack the patients healthy tissue

This Early Phase 1 trial will test whether exercise can help produce better immune cells from donors The investigators will recruit healthy participants for three study groups

1 Exercise Group Participants will complete a 20-minute cycling exercise session The investigators will collect blood samples before during and after exercise to study the number and quality of immune cells The investigators will also use the collected cells to create immune therapies and test their ability to kill cancer cells in the lab and control cancer growth in mice
2 Exercise and Beta Blocker Group In this group participants will complete up to five cycling sessions with at least a week between each session Before each session participants will take either a placebo or a drug beta blocker that blocks stress hormones like adrenaline The investigators will collect blood samples before and during exercise to see how blocking these hormones changes the effect of exercise on immune cells
3 Isoproterenol Group Participants in this group will receive a 20-minute infusion of isoproterenol a drug that mimics the effects of adrenaline The investigators will collect blood samples before during and after the infusion to see if the drug causes similar immune changes to those caused by exercise

Participants can join one two or all three groups This research will help understand whether exercise can improve immune cell therapies for treating blood cancer and reduce the risk of GvHD making these treatments safer and more effective
Detailed Description: Background

Allogeneic cell therapies encompass various approaches including donor lymphocyte infusions DLI and engineered immune cell products like chimeric antigen receptor CAR T-cells gamma delta γδ T-cells cytokine-induced killer CIK cells and cytokine-induced memory-like natural killer NK cells These therapies are commonly employed after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation alloHCT to prevent or treat leukemic relapse in high-risk patients However while these therapies have shown potential the success rates for DLI and expanded cell products remain limited DLI in particular carries the risk of inducing graft-versus-host disease GvHD where donor T-cells attack healthy tissues leading to significant morbidity Furthermore expanded cell products face challenges related to manufacturing times efficacy and cost which can limit their accessibility and effectiveness Therefore there is a critical need to enhance the graft-versus-leukemialymphoma GvL effects of DLI and improve the efficacy of expanded cell products to achieve better outcomes for a larger number of patients without increasing the risk of GvHD thereby broadening their use in clinical practice

Exercise has been shown to contribute to lower cancer risk improve outcomes in cancer survivors and act as an adjuvant for several cancer therapies The present exercise model involves an acute single bout of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise lasting 20 minutes which evokes a catecholamine-dependent mobilization and redistribution of effector lymphocytes eg natural killer cells γδ T-cells and CD8 T-cells This response may enhance long-term immunosurveillance by improving the recognition and destruction of premalignant cells and contributing to the suppression of tumor growth The overarching research question is Can lymphocytes be collected from blood during the exercise-induced mobilization phase to generate superior cell products for cancer immunotherapy The overall vision is to develop exercise-mobilized lymphocytes into a therapy that increases the efficacy of both DLI and expanded cell products eg CAR T-cells γδ T-cells CIK cells and cytokine-induced memory-like NK cells for treating leukemialymphoma relapse This novel approach termed DLI-X has the potential to improve a pre-existing therapy for the treatment of blood cancers at minimal cost

The goals of this proposal are to conduct head-to-head comparisons between standard DLI and DLI-X both in vitro and in xenogeneic mouse models engrafted with various human hematological cancers and to identify the underlying mechanisms driving the enhanced anti-leukemialymphoma response of DLI-X

The overarching hypothesis is that DLI-X and the expanded cell products manufactured from these exercise-mobilized lymphocytes will exhibit enhanced GvL effects against multiple hematological malignancies compared to standard DLI These effects will be driven by β2-adrenergic receptor β2-AR-mediated transcriptomic and proteomic changes that promote target cell recognition and cytotoxicity Additionally it is proposed that DLI-X will improve the efficacy of combination therapies such as blinatumomab a bi-specific T-cell engager and monoclonal antibodies designed to increase antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity ADCC thereby enhancing tumor growth suppression and the GvL effects of DLI

Specific Aims

1 Evaluate how acute single bouts of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise lasting 20 minutes influence the number phenotype and molecular characteristics of immune cells in the blood
2 Determine whether immune cells collected post-exercise yield superior therapeutic products compared to those collected under resting conditions from the same donor
3 Investigate the role of adrenergic receptor signaling in mediating these effects

Procedures

Healthy participants will be recruited into three distinct arms cohorts of this study 1 Exercise Cohort 2 Exercise Beta Blocker Cohort andor 3 Isoproterenol Infusion Cohort Participants may enroll in one two or all three study arms The procedures for each cohort are outlined below

Exercise Cohort Participants in the Exercise Cohort will be scheduled to visit the laboratory for three separate sessions between 0800 and 1000 During each visit staff will confirm adherence to pre-testing guidelines eg 8-12 hours of fasting and no vigorous physical activity Any participant who does not meet these guidelines will be rescheduled

Exercise Cohort Visit 1 Screening and Graded Exercise Test Time Commitment 60 minutes

1 Informed Consent A member of the research team will obtain written informed consent from the participant
2 Pre-screening Questionnaire Participants will complete the AHAACSM pre-screening questionnaire to verify that inclusion and exclusion criteria are met
3 Anthropometric Measurements Height and weight will be measured
4 Blood Samples A fingerstick capillary blood sample will be collected using a sterile spring-loaded lancet for total cholesterol and fasting glucose quantification using an automated handheld analyzer Cardiocheck
5 Blood Pressure Measurement Resting blood pressure will be measured using a manual or automated blood pressure cuff
6 Risk Stratification Participants deemed ineligible after screening will be excluded from further participation
7 Graded Exercise Test Participants will perform a maximal exercise protocol on an indoor stationary bicycle They will wear a heart rate monitor and a face mask connected to a metabolic cart for continuous measurement of heart rate and respiratory gases The test will begin at 50 Watts for females and 75 Watts for males with power increased by 15 Watts each minute until exhaustion Maximal oxygen uptake VO2max ventilatory threshold and peak cycling power will be determined

Exercise Cohort Visits 2 and 3 Time Commitment 2 hours per visit Participants will return to the laboratory 3-10 days after Visit 1 and 7-14 days after Visit 2

1 Pre-Exercise Procedures An IV catheter will be inserted into a peripheral arm vein by a trained phlebotomist A pre-exercise blood sample approximately 120 mL will be collected
2 Exercise Protocol Participants will engage in a 20-minute session of moderate-to-vigorous cycling exercise at power outputs corresponding to 50 60 70 and 80 of their predetermined maximal oxygen uptake VO2max for 5-minute increments Participants will not be exercised to exhaustion during these trials Blood pressure measurements and ratings of perceived exertion will be collected every 5 minutes during the exercise session and immediately after
3 Blood Sampling During Exercise Additional venous blood samples total volume during exercise 80 mL will be collected through the IV catheter at various stages of the exercise protocol
4 Post-Exercise Blood Draw A final blood draw of 15 mL will be collected 1 hour post-exercise

Total Blood Volume Participants will donate a total of 215 mL of blood 120 mL pre-exercise 80 mL during exercise and 15 mL post-exercise per visit for a total of 430ml across both visits Additionally several droplets of capillary blood approximately 10-20 µL will be collected during Visit 1 for screening purposes

The procedures for Visits 2 and 3 will be identical The rationale for two visits is to obtain sufficient blood to generate multiple therapeutic cell products from the same donor The total time commitment for this cohort is approximately 5 hours

Exercise Beta Blocker Cohort

Time Commitment 21 hours Participants in the Exercise Beta Blocker Cohort will be scheduled to visit the laboratory for six separate sessions between 0800 and 1000 which will be spread over 6-10 weeks During each visit study staff will confirm adherence to pre-testing guidelines eg 8-12 hours of fasting and no vigorous physical activity Any participant who does not meet these guidelines will be rescheduled

Exercise Beta Blocker Cohort Visit 1 - Graded Exercise Test Time Commitment 60 minutes Participants will complete a graded exercise test on an indoor stationary bicycle to determine their maximal oxygen uptake VO₂max and peak cycling power This test will ensure the appropriate intensity levels for subsequent exercise trials

Exercise Beta Blocker Cohort Visits 2-6 - Exercise Trials Time Commitment 20 hours

The remaining five visits will consist of the main exercise trials where participants will undergo the following procedures There will be a 7-10 day period between each exercise trial visit to allow for recovery and minimize potential carryover effects from the drugs administered

1 Drug Administration The drug trials will be conducted in a block randomized double-blind setting to ensure that neither the experimenter nor the participant knows which trial is occurring The randomization will be computed by a member of the research team not involved in performing the exercise trials The timing of drug administration is based on peak plasma concentrations of each drug At 3 hours 2 hours and 1 hour prior to each exercise trial participants will be administered either a drug or a placebo pill according to the following outline

Trial 1 Placebo at all time points Trial 2 Nadolol at 3 hours Placebo at 2 hours and 1 hour Trial 3 Bisoprolol at 3 hours Placebo at 2 hours and 1 hour Trial 4 Placebo at 3 hours and 1 hour Carvedilol at 2 hours Trial 5 Bisoprolol at 3 hours Placebo at 2 hours Roflumilast at 1 hour
2 Pre-Drug Procedures Prior to the ingestion of the drug or placebo an IV catheter will be inserted into a peripheral arm vein by a trained phlebotomist A pre-drug blood sample will be collected
3 Post-Drug Pre-Exercise Blood Sample After the drug or placebo has been ingested and 30 minutes before exercise begins a post-drug pre-exercise blood sample will be collected
4 Exercise Protocol Participants will engage in a 20-minute session of moderate-to-vigorous cycling exercise at power outputs corresponding to 50 60 70 and 80 of their predetermined VO₂max for 5-minute increments Participants will not be exercised to exhaustion during these trials Blood pressure measurements and ratings of perceived exertion will be collected every 5 minutes during the exercise session and immediately after
5 Blood Sampling During Exercise Additional venous blood samples will be collected through the IV catheter at various time points throughout the exercise protocol
6 Post-Exercise Recovery Blood Samples Additional blood samples will be collected during the recovery phase at various time points ranging from 5 to 60 minutes post-exercise

Total Blood Volume Participants in this cohort will donate a total of approximately 220 mL of blood per visit The cumulative total blood volume for this cohort across all six visits is approximately 1320 mL

Isoproterenol Cohort Participants in the Isoproterenol Cohort will be scheduled to visit the laboratory for three separate sessions between 0800 and 1000 During each visit study staff will confirm adherence to pre-testing guidelines eg 8-12 hours of fasting and no vigorous physical activity Any participant who does not meet these guidelines will be rescheduled

Isoproterenol Cohort Visit 1 Screening and Isoproterenol Infusion Time Commitment 2 hours

1 Informed Consent A member of the research team will obtain written informed consent from the participant
2 Pre-screening Questionnaire Participants will complete the AHAACSM pre-screening questionnaire to verify that inclusion and exclusion criteria are met
3 Anthropometric Measurements Height and weight will be measured
4 Blood Samples A fingerstick capillary blood sample will be collected using a sterile spring-loaded lancet for total cholesterol and fasting glucose quantification using an automated handheld analyzer Cardiocheck
5 Blood Pressure Measurement Resting blood pressure will be measured using a manual or automated blood pressure cuff
6 Risk Stratification Participants deemed ineligible after screening will be excluded from further participation
7 Pre-Infusion Procedures The participant will be fitted with electrodes attached to an electrocardiogram ECG 12-lead and will receive a resting ECG reading which will be monitored by a physician cardiologist The cardiologist will make the decision whether to proceed with the infusion or exclude the participant from the study Two IV catheters will be inserted into bilateral peripheral arm veins by a trained phlebotomist One catheter will be used for delivering isoproterenol and one will be used for collecting blood samples A pre-infusion blood sample approximately 120 mL will be collected
8 Isoproterenol Infusion Protocol Participants will receive a continuous infusion of isoproterenol for 20-minutes at a concentration of 50ngminkg Blood pressure measurements will be collected every 5 minutes during the infusion and ECG activity will be monitored continuously A physician cardiologist will monitor the entire infusion procedure
9 Blood Sampling During Infusion Additional venous blood samples total volume during exercise 80 mL will be collected through the IV catheter during the last 5-minutes of the infusion protocol
10 Post-Infusion Blood Draw A final blood draw of 15 mL will be collected 1 hour post-exercise

Total Blood Volume Participants will donate a total of 215 mL of blood 120 mL pre-infusion 80 mL during infusion and 15 mL post-infusion during this visit Additionally several droplets of capillary blood approximately 10-20 µL will be collected during Visit 1 for screening purposes

Outcome Measures

The outcome measures for all three cohorts will be identical as described in the Outcome Measures section of this protocol

Study Oversight

Has Oversight DMC: None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?: None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?: None
Is an Unapproved Device?: None
Is a PPSD?: None
Is a US Export?: None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?: None