Transplantation of ex vivo expanded cord blood cells using the copper chelator tetraethylenepentamine: a phase I/II clinical trial

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2008 May;41(9):771-8. doi: 10.1038/sj.bmt.1705979. Epub 2008 Jan 21.

Abstract

The copper chelator tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA; StemEx) was shown to attenuate the differentiation of ex vivo cultured hematopoietic cells resulting in preferential expansion of early progenitors. A phase I/II trial was performed to test the feasibility and safety of transplantation of CD133+ cord blood (CB) hematopoietic progenitors cultured in media containing stem cell factor, FLT-3 ligand, interleukin-6, thrombopoietin and TEPA. Ten patients with advanced hematological malignancies were transplanted with a CB unit originally frozen in two fractions. The smaller fraction was cultured ex vivo for 21 days and transplanted 24 h after infusion of the larger unmanipulated fraction. All but two units contained <2 x 10(7) total nucleated cells (TNCs) per kilogram pre-expansion. All donor-recipient pairs were mismatched for one or two HLA loci. Nine patients were beyond first remission; median age and weight were 21 years and 68.5 kg. The average TNCs fold expansion was 219 (range, 2-620). Mean increase of CD34+ cell count was 6 (over the CD34+ cell content in the entire unit). Despite the low TNCs per kilogram infused (median=1.8 x 10(7)/kg), nine patients engrafted. Median time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment was 30 (range, 16-46) and 48 (range, 35-105) days. There were no cases of grades 3-4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and 100-day survival was 90%. This strategy is feasible.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Phase I
  • Clinical Trial, Phase II
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antigens, Differentiation / metabolism
  • Cell Culture Techniques*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Chelating Agents / pharmacology*
  • Child
  • Copper*
  • Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / methods*
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Ethylenediamines / pharmacology*
  • Female
  • Fetal Blood*
  • Graft Survival
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / therapy
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Time Factors
  • Tissue Donors

Substances

  • Antigens, Differentiation
  • Chelating Agents
  • Ethylenediamines
  • Copper
  • tetraethylenepentamine