Study of ATLCAR.CD138 Cells for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2032-10-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The body has different ways of fighting infection and disease. No single way seems perfect
for fighting cancer. This research study combines two different ways of fighting disease:
antibodies and T cells. Antibodies are proteins that protect the body from disease caused by
bacteria or toxic substances. Antibodies work by binding those bacteria or substances, which
stops them from growing and causing bad effects. T cells, also called T lymphocytes, are
special infection-fighting blood cells that can kill other cells, including tumor cells or
cells that are infected. Both antibodies and T cells have been used to treat patients with
cancers. They both have shown promise, but neither alone has been sufficient to cure most
patients. This study is designed to combine both T cells and antibodies to create a more
effective treatment. The treatment that is being researched is called autologous T lymphocyte
chimeric antigen receptor cells targeted against the CD138 antigen (CAR138 T cells).
In previous studies, it has been shown that a new gene can be put into T cells that will
increase their ability to recognize and kill cancer cells. A gene is a unit of DNA. Genes
make up the chemical structure carrying the patient's genetic information that may determine
human characteristics (i.e., eye color, height and sex). The new gene that is put in the T
cells in this study makes a piece of an antibody called anti-CD138. This antibody floats
around in the blood and can detect and stick to cancer cells called multiple myeloma cells
because they have a substance on the outside of the cells called CD138. Anti-CD138 antibodies
have been used to treat people with multiple myeloma, but have not been strong enough to cure
most patients. For this study, the anti-CD138 antibody has been changed so that instead of
floating free in the blood part of it is now joined to the T cells. Only the part of the
antibody that sticks to the multiple myeloma cells is attached to the T cells instead of the
entire antibody. When an antibody is joined to a T cell in this way it is called a chimeric
receptor. These CD138 chimeric (combination) receptor-activated T cells seem to kill some of
the tumor, but they do not last very long in the body and so their chances of fighting the
cancer are unknown.