Fanconi Anemia – University of Minnesota – Masonic Children’s Hospital

This is a phase II trial of T cell receptor alpha/beta depletion (α/β TCD) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) transplantation in patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) to eliminate the need for routine graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) immune suppression leading to earlier immune recovery and potentially a reduction in the risk of severe infections after transplantation.

RATIONALE: A bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant may be able to replace blood-forming cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy. Giving combination chemotherapy before a donor stem cell transplant may make the transplant more likely to work. This may be an effective treatment for patients with high risk Fanconi’s anemia.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well combination chemotherapy works in treating high risk patients who are undergoing a donor stem cell transplant for Fanconi’s anemia.

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide and fludarabine, before a donor stem cell transplant helps to remove the patient’s cells to allow for the transplant cells to take and grow. It also helps stop the patient’s immune system from rejecting the donor’s stem cells. When the healthy stem cells from a donor are infused into the patient, they may help the patient’s bone marrow make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Sometimes the transplanted cells can make an immune response against the body’s normal cells. Giving antithymocyte globulin and removing the T cells from the donor cells before transplant and giving cyclosporine before and after transplant may stop this from happening.

PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects of cyclophosphamide, fludarabine, and antithymocyte globulin followed by donor stem cell transplant and to see how well it works in treating patients with Fanconi anemia.

This is a single arm, total body irradiation (TBI) trial. All patients will be prescribed TBI 300 cGy with the goal of evaluating secondary endpoints.