U96 CAR-T cell therapy for relapsed or refractory B-cell leukemia and lymphoma

A Single-arm, Open-label Clinical Study on the Safety and Preliminary Efficacy of in Vivo CAR-T (U96) in the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory B-cell Tumors

This trial will test U96 CAR-T cell therapy in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or B-cell lymphoma to see if it is safe and helps control their cancer.

Quick facts

• Phase: Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (Academic / other)
• Drugs / interventions: chemotherapy, CAR-T
• Locations: 1 site (Suzhou, Jiangsu)
• Trial ID: NCT07511426 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This is a single-arm, open-label Phase 1 study using a 3+3 dose-escalation design to study U96 CAR-T cells in relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and B-cell lymphoma. Each dose cohort will enroll 3–6 patients with a planned total of about 30–48 participants. After screening and informed consent, eligible adults will receive a single administration of U96, remain hospitalized for at least 14 days, and undergo safety and efficacy follow-up visits. Follow-up visits are scheduled at 28 days and at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, with long-term follow-up continuing beyond two years as indicated.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults (≥18 years) with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or B-cell lymphoma who meet the trial's inclusion/exclusion criteria and can comply with hospitalization and follow-up requirements are the intended candidates.

Not a fit: Patients with newly diagnosed disease responding to standard therapies, or those with medical conditions that prevent them from tolerating CAR-T therapy, are unlikely to benefit from this trial.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, U96 CAR-T could offer a new option that produces longer remissions for patients whose B-cell leukemia or lymphoma has returned or not responded to other therapies.

How similar studies have performed: Other approved CAR-T products have produced remissions in relapsed/refractory B-ALL and B-cell lymphoma, but U96 itself appears novel and is being tested for safety in this early-phase study.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* (All the following items must be met simultaneously)

  1. Patients must voluntarily sign the informed consent form and have good compliance;
  2. For different indications, patients must meet the following requirements:

     2-1) Patients in the acute B lymphoblastic leukemia group:
     1. The age at signing the informed consent form is ≥ 18 years old, both male and female are acceptable;
     2. According to the standards of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Clinical Practice Guidelines (2024, 2nd Edition), it is clearly diagnosed as acute B lymphoblastic leukemia;
     3. According to the "Chinese Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines" (2021 Edition), one of the following conditions must be met: a. Refractory leukemia: standard induction therapy fails to achieve CR/CRi after (generally referring to 4-week regimen or Hyper-CVAD regimen) completion; b. Leukemia recurrence: patients who have achieved CR have peripheral blood or bone marrow with blast cells (proportion \> 5%) or MRD positive or extramedullary lesions; 2-2) Patients in the B-cell lymphoma group:

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     1. The age at signing the informed consent form is ≥ 18 years old, both male and female are acceptable;
     2. According to the standards of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) B-cell lymphoma clinical practice guidelines (2024, 3rd Edition), it is clearly diagnosed as B-cell lymphoma;
     3. Patients with B-cell lymphoma who have failed at least two-line treatment (one standardized chemotherapy regimen + one salvage chemotherapy) or have relapsed before screening. The previous treatment of B-cell lymphoma must include CD20 monoclonal antibody (excluding CD20-negative tumor patients) and anthracycline-based standardized treatment regimen. At least one of the following conditions must be met: a. Unable to undergo autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; b. Refuse to undergo autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; c. Relapse after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation;
     4. At screening, the patient is in a state of disease recurrence or refractory: a) Recurrence definition: after adequate treatment achieving remission (including partial remission (PR) or complete remission (CR)), PD again occurs; b) Refractoriness definition: i. No response to the last treatment: PD during/after the last treatment or the best efficacy is SD, and the duration is less than 6 months; ii. Recurrence or progression after ASCT (requiring biopsy confirmation), including: recurrence or PD within 12 months after ASCT, if salvage treatment is received, no response (SD or PD) to the last treatment;
  3. Bone marrow or peripheral blood or immunohistochemistry or pathology shows CD19 antigen positive;
  4. According to the Lugano Lymphoma Response Evaluation Criteria (Cheson 2014), B-cell lymphoma patients have at least one evaluable lesion, or positive lesions confirmed by PET-CT;
  5. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status score is 0-3;
  6. At screening, there is a certain degree of bone marrow reserve, defined as: absolute lymphocyte value (ALC) ≥ 0.3×109/L, platelet (PLT) ≥ 30×109/L (allowing the result after administration);
  7. Have appropriate organ function, and need to meet the following standards: aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN); alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 3 times ULN (for liver function abnormalities caused by tumor infiltration, AST and ALT ≤ 5 times ULN are required); total serum bilirubin The serum bilirubin should be ≤ 2 times the ULN, except for those with Gilbert syndrome who have a combined condition; the total bilirubin should be ≤ 3 times the ULN and the direct bilirubin should be ≤ 1.5 times the ULN. Patients with Gilbert syndrome who meet these criteria can be included. The serum creatinine should be ≤ 1.5 times the ULN, or the creatinine clearance rate should be ≥ 60 mL/min (Cockcroft and Gault formula); possess the lowest level of pulmonary reserve, defined as ≤ 1 grade of dyspnea and a blood oxygen saturation \> 91% in non-oxygenated state; left ventricular ejection fraction of the left heart in echocardiography should be ≥ 50%; International Normalized Ratio (INR) should be ≤ 1.5 times the ULN, and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) should be ≤ 1.5 times the ULN;
  8. The blood/urine pregnancy test for women of childbearing age during the screening period should be negative. Any male or female patient with reproductive capacity must agree to use an effective contraceptive method throughout the study process and for at least 1 year after the administration of the study treatment;
  9. The expected survival period should be greater than 3 months.

     Exclusion Criteria:
* (Any of the following conditions will disqualify one from participating)

  1. Having another malignant tumor and the investigator considers that the presence of other malignant tumors may affect the current treatment;
  2. Any of the following conditions: positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) or hepatitis B core antibody (HBc-Ab), and the HBV-DNA copy number is greater than the minimum detection limit; positive for hepatitis C antibody (HCV-Ab), and the HCV-RNA copy number is greater than the minimum detection limit; positive for anti-mycoplasma antibody (TP-Ab); positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody;
  3. Existing bacterial, fungal, viral, mycoplasma or other types of infections and the investigator determines that they are difficult to control;
  4. Having a CNS disease other than this disease in the past or currently, such as epileptic seizures, cerebral ischemia/hemorrhage, dementia, cerebellar disease or any CNS-related autoimmune disease, and the investigator determines that it is uncontrollable;
  5. Before signing the informed consent form, having undergone cardiac angioplasty or stent placement within 12 months, or having NYHA classification III-IV grade congestive heart failure, or having myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris or the investigator determines that there is a clinically significant history of heart disease, or the patient's QTc interval is \> 480 ms (QTc interval calculated using the Fridericia formula), and the left ventricular ejection fraction of the heart ultrasound is \< 50%;
  6. Patients with primary immunodeficiency;
  7. Having had a severe immediate-type hypersensitivity reaction to any drug used in this study;
  8. Having received live vaccines within 6 weeks before screening;
  9. Pregnant or lactating women;
  10. Active autoimmune diseases;
  11. Having active acute or chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) at the time of signing the informed consent form, and the investigator determines that it is uncontrollable;
  12. Participating in any other interventional clinical research within 30 days before signing the informed consent form;
  13. Situations that the investigator deems unsuitable for participating in this study.

Where this trial is running

Suzhou, Jiangsu

• The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University — Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: Sheng-Li Xue

Conditions Relapsed or Refractory B Cell Leukemia and Lymphoma