Recruiting
Phase 1

Immunotherapy

Sponsor:

Children's National Research Institute

Code:

NCT06193759

Conditions

Medulloblastoma, Childhood

Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor of CNS

Embryonal Tumor With Multilayered Rosettes

Pineoblastoma

Embryonal Brain Tumor Not Otherwise Specified

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 1 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Multi-tumor antigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (TSA-T) directed against proteogenomically determined personalized tumor-specific antigens (TSA)

Group A Standard-of-Care Backbone Therapy

Group B Salvage Backbone Therapy

Study Details

Brief summary:

This is an open-label phase 1 safety and feasibility study that will employ multi-tumor antigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (TSA-T) directed against proteogenomically determined personalized tumor-specific antigens (TSA) derived from a patient's primary brain tumor tissues. Young patients with embryonal central nervous system (CNS) malignancies typically are unable to receive irradiation due to significant adverse effects and are treated with intensive chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell rescue; however, despite intensive therapy, many of these patients relapse. In this study, individualized TSA-T cells will be generated against proteogenomically determined tumor-specific antigens after standard of care treatment in children less than 5 years of age with embryonal brain tumors. Correlative biological studies will measure clinical anti-tumor, immunological and biomarker effects.

Conditions

Medulloblastoma, Childhood

Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor of CNS

Embryonal Tumor With Multilayered Rosettes

Pineoblastoma

Embryonal Brain Tumor Not Otherwise Specified

Study ID

NCT06193759

Start date

Sep 20, 2024

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Dec 29, 2032

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 29, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 1 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

RECIPIENT SCREENING INCLUSION CRITERIA

1. Diagnosis (select one group):

  • Group A: New diagnosis of CNS embryonal tumors: medulloblastoma, embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes, pineoblastoma, atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor, and embryonal tumor, not otherwise specified (NOS).
  • Group B: Radiographic evidence consistent with recurrent ependymoma, with planned or recent re-resection.
2. Age:

  • Group A: <5 years of age at enrollment
  • Group B: >1 year and <30 years of age at enrollment
3. Tissue:

o Group A: Availability of sufficient fresh or frozen tumor tissue (approximately 50 mg).

o Group B: Expectation of sufficient fresh or frozen tumor tissue, in the opinion of study PI or sub-I (based upon radiographic evidence of disease).
4. Non-pregnant:

  • Group A: N/A
  • Group B: For female of childbearing potential, must have negative pregnancy test.

Common to both groups:
5. Karnofsky or Lansky score of ≥60%.
6. Adequate organ function, defined below:

i. ANC ≥750/µL. ii. Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) >500/μL. iii. Platelets ≥75K. iv. Bilirubin ≤3xULN. v. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) <5x upper limit of normal (ULN).

vi. Serum creatinine ≤1.0 mg/dL or 1.5x ULN for age (whichever is higher). vii. Pulse oximetry >90% on room air.
7. The patient (if ≥18 years old), or the patient's parent(s)/legal guardian(s) (if the patient is a minor), is capable of providing informed consent.
8. Patient deemed to be of sufficient size to undergo MNC apheresis for TSA-T generation (Groups A and B) and PBSC rescue (Group A only).
9. Patient is a surgical candidate for placement of a Rickham reservoir in the opinion of study PI or medically licensed sub-I.

RECIPIENT INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR PROCUREMENT

1\. Karnofsky or Lansky score of ≥60%. 2. Adequate organ function, defined below: i. ANC ≥750/µL. ii. Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) >500/μL. iii. Platelets ≥75K. iv. Bilirubin ≤3xULN. v. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) <5x upper limit of normal (ULN).

vi. Serum creatinine ≤1.0mg/dL or 1.5x ULN for age (whichever is higher). vii. Pulse oximetry >90% on room air. 3. Non-pregnant:

  • Group A: N/A
  • Group B: For female of childbearing potential (if applicable), must have negative pregnancy test.

RECIPIENT INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR INITIAL TSA-T ADMINISTRATION AND FOR ADDITIONAL INFUSIONS

1. Applicable to TSA-T infusion #1 only: Group B participants must have histopathologic confirmation of recurrent ependymoma.
2. Karnofsky or Lansky score of ≥60%.
3. Adequate organ function, defined as below:

i. Bilirubin ≤3x ULN. ii. AST and ALT ≤5x ULN. iii. Serum creatinine ≤1.0mg/dL or 1.5x ULN for age (whichever is higher). iv. Pulse oximetry >90% on room air.
4. Applicable to TSA-T Infusion #1 only: Adequate count recovery, as described below, from prior therapies:

i. Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) >1000/μL ii. Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC) >500/μL
5. Patients must have received their last dose of:

a. Myelosuppressive chemotherapy (if applicable) ≥14 days prior to TSA-T infusion b. Focal radiation (if applicable) ≥14 days prior to TSA-T infusion c. Craniospinal irradiation (if applicable) ≥28 days prior to TSA-T infusion
6. Patients must have recovered from all acute effects of prior surgical intervention/s.
7. Group B female of childbearing potential or male capable of fathering a child (if applicable): Agree to use contraceptive measures during TSA-T treatment participation through 6 months following last administration of TSA-Ts
8. Group B female of childbearing potential (if applicable), must have negative pregnancy test.
9. Neurologic status: Patient must have a stable neurologic exam for 2 weeks, on a stable or decreasing dose of steroids, prior to administration of the first dose of TSA-T cells, and stability for 1 week prior to all subsequent infusions. The exams demonstrating stability must be performed by the study team, although these may occur via telemedicine if necessary. Patient must agree to a brief (<72 hours) course of steroids if the PI or medically-licensed sub-I deems it clinically necessary in the context of clinical deterioration.
10. Presence of a Rickham reservoir and catheter for intracerebroventricular administration of TSA-T therapy, placed >7 days prior to TSA-T infusion.
11. For patients with programmable VP shunts: Able to tolerate the shunt being closed for at least 4 hours, in the opinion of study PI or medically licensed sub-I.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA RECIPIENT SCREENING EXCLUSION CRITERIA

1\. Patients with uncontrolled infections. 2. Patients with known HIV infection. 3. Group A patients with medulloblastoma of the SHH subtype.

RECIPIENT EXCLUSION CRITERIA FOR PROCUREMENT

1\. Patients with a fever above 38.0°C. 2. Patients with known HIV infection. 3. Prior immunotherapy with an investigational agent within the 28 days prior to planned date of procurement collection for TSA-T manufacturing.

4\. Patients who will be unable to tolerate the apheresis procedure, including inability to tolerate placement of apheresis line (if applicable), in the opinion of PI or medically licensed sub-I.

5\. Patients who have overly bulky tumors on imaging are ineligible. These include the following: i. Tumor with any evidence of herniation or significant midline shift. ii. Tumor with a significant brainstem component. iii. Patients who are deemed to have overly bulky tumor by the PI of the study.

If, due to complications during apheresis or subsequent manufacturing, procurement is repeated at a later date using peripheral whole blood collection, exclusion criterion #4 does not apply.

RECIPIENT EXCLUSION CRITERIA FOR INITIAL AND SUBSEQUENT TSA-T INFUSIONS

1. Patients with progressive disease based on most recent evaluation (for subsequent infusions).

a. Patients with progressive disease based on most recent evaluation may receive initial TSA-T infusion but would be ineligible if the tumor is found to be progressive before subsequent infusions
2. Patients with uncontrolled infections.
3. Patients who have overly bulky tumors on imaging are ineligible. These include the following:

i. Tumor with any evidence of herniation or significant midline shift. ii. Tumor with a significant brainstem component. iii. Patients who are deemed to have overly bulky tumor by the PI of the study.
4. Patients who received ATG, Campath or other immunosuppressive T cell monoclonal antibodies within 28 days of TSA-T infusion.
5. Patients receiving steroids (e.g., dexamethasone) at a dose of >0.05 mg/kg/day.
6. Patients who have non-programmable VP shunts.

Study Design

Enrollment

12 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Non randomized

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Embryonal brain tumors

Children younger than 5 years of age with newly diagnosed embryonal brain tumors - including medulloblastoma (MB), atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT), embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes (ETMR), and embryonal brain tumor not otherwise specified (NOS).

experimental: Ependymoma

Children, adolescents and young adults greater than 1 year and less than 30 years of age with recurrent ependymoma

Interventions

Multi-tumor antigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (TSA-T) directed against proteogenomically determined personalized tumor-specific antigens (TSA)

Participants in this study will receive TSA-T after completion of standard-of-care treatment.

Group A Standard-of-Care Backbone Therapy

Patients will undergo surgical resection, then be treated with standard-of-care therapy as required, which may include up to 3 induction chemotherapy cycles (vincristine, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, etoposide with or without methotrexate) and up to 3 consolidation cycles (carboplatin and thiotepa, each followed by an infusion of autologous peripheral blood stem cells).

Group B Salvage Backbone Therapy

Patients will undergo surgical re-resection - aiming for gross total resection when feasible - followed by re-irradiation. Re-irradiation may be delivered as a conventional fractionated course, hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, or proton therapy.

Primary outcome measure

  • To evaluate the safety of TSA-T in children, adolescents, and young adults with high-risk CNS embryonal tumors and recurrent ependymomas. Safety will be evaluated by the incidence of dose limiting toxicities (DLTs). [ Time Frame: 42 days of the first TSA-T infusion ]
  • To estimate the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of intracerebroventricularly-administered TSA-T in children, adolescents and young adults with high-risk CNS embryonal tumors and recurrent ependymoma. [ Time Frame: 42 days of the first TSA-T infusion ]
  • Feasibility of TSA identification [ Time Frame: Up to 5 years after the first TSA-T cell infusion ]
  • Feasibility of TSA-T cell generation [ Time Frame: At start of SOC/Salvage therapy until start of TSA-T cell treatment (up to 24 weeks) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Locations

Children's National Hospital

Recruiting

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States, 20010

Contacts

More Information

Sponsor

Children's National Research Institute

Last update posted

Jun 17, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Cellular Therapy
  • Pediatric Brain Tumors

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Children's National Research Institute on 2026-06-17.