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Clinical trial tests combination therapy for relapsed hairy cell leukemia

hairy cell leukemia

A histological slide of hairy cell leukemia.
Photo courtesy of NCI Visuals Online

Patients whose hairy cell leukemia has relapsed following chemotherapy may be eligible to participate in a new clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center.

Robert J. Kreitman, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, is leading a study of a combination therapy for patients with relapsed hairy cell leukemia (HCL). HCL is a rare and slow-growing leukemia in which bone marrow overproduces abnormal B lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Under a microscope, these malignant cells appear to be covered with tiny hair-like projections. In this study, patients will receive an immunotoxin called moxetumomab pasudotox. The drug binds to a receptor called CD22 on the surface of malignant B cells and delivers a toxin directly to the tumor cells. The toxin inside the cell inhibits protein production which may bring about tumor-cell death. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody which binds to CD20 and attacks the hairy cells by a different pathway. Researchers want to find out how combining moxetumomab pasudotox with rituximab effects HCL cells.

Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03805932
NCI Protocol ID: NCI-19-C-0042
Official Title: A Phase I Study of Moxetumomab Pasudotox (Lumoxiti) and Rituximab (Rituxan) for Relapsed Hairy Cell Leukemia

The Center for Cancer Research is NCI’s internal cancer center, a publicly funded organization working to improve the lives of cancer patients by solving important, challenging and neglected problems in cancer research and patient care. Highly trained physician-scientists develop and carry out clinical trials to create the medicines of tomorrow treating patients at the world’s largest dedicated research hospital on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.   

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Posted on Fri, 11/15/2019