A Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of the LentiGlobin® BB305 Drug Product in Subjects With Transfusion-Dependent β-Thalassemia

This is a single-arm, multi-site, single-dose, Phase 3 study in approximately 18 subjects ≤50 years of age with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT), who have a β0/β0, β0/IVS-I-110, or IVS-I-110/IVS-I-110 genotype. The study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using LentiGlobin BB305 Drug Product.

Acute GVHD Suppression Using Costimulation Blockade to Expand Non-malignant Transplant (ASCENT)

The ASCENT Trial is a single arm, multi-center, phase II study. The primary objective is to determine the rejection-free, severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-free survival in pediatric patients with serious non-malignant hematologic diseases (NMHD) undergoing mismatched unrelated donor (URD) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) with abatacept added to conventional GVHD prophylaxis. The secondary objective is to characterize the impact of abatacept on infection and the reconstitution of protective immunity to infection. Transplanted patients will be followed for 3 years. Weight-based peripheral blood samples will be drawn longitudinally through two years to evaluate immune reconstitution.

The study will enroll 28 pediatric patients with serious NMHD undergoing mismatched URD HSCT. The trial will include two strata, based on donor matching. Stratum 1 (n=14) will be for patients with 7/8 donors and stratum 2 (n=14) will be for those with 8/8 (matched) donors. All participants will receive 8 doses of abatacept (10 mg/kg intravenously on days -1, +5, +14, +28, +56, +84, +112, and +150). Recruitment is expected to last for about 2 years and participants will be followed for up to 3 years.

This trial will test the hypothesis that extended abatacept administration (combined with a standard regimen of tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil) will effectively prevent acute and chronic GVHD in children and adolescents receiving mismatched URD HSCT, without compromising their engraftment or reconstitution of protective immunity to infection.

Shared-Decision Making for Hydroxyurea (ENGAGE-HU)

The goal of the study is to understand how best to help parents of young children with sickle cell disease and their clinicians have a shared discussion about hydroxyurea (one that takes into account medical evidence and parent values and preferences). The study will compare two methods to help clinicians facilitate this—a clinician pocket guide and a clinician hydroxyurea shared decision making toolkit—in a group of parents of children ages 0-5 with sickle cell disease. The investigators hope that both methods lead to parents reaching a high-quality, well-informed decision. In addition, the team hopes to demonstrate that parents who experience a shared decision will have lower anxiety and decisional uncertainty. The researchers also expect these parents to be more likely to choose hydroxyurea and that their children will have less pain, fewer hospitalizations, better developmental outcomes, and higher quality of life. The project team hopes to show that the toolkit method is easy for clinicians to use and gives parents the support needed to make an informed decision.

Abatacept for GVHD Prophylaxis After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease

To assess the tolerability of the costimulation blocking agent abatacept (CTLA4-Ig) when added to the standard graft versus host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis regimen of a calcineurin inhibitor and methotrexate in patients receiving early alemtuzumab followed by fludarabine, thiotepa, melphalan, and alemtuzumab for conditioning.

Minimizing Toxicity in HLA-identical Related Donor Transplantation for Children With Sickle Cell Disease (SUN)

This multisite prospective study seeks to determine if HLA-identical sibling donor transplantation using alemtuzumab, low dose total-body irradiation, and sirolimus (Sickle transplant Using a Nonmyeloablative approach, “SUN”) can decrease the toxicity of transplant while achieving a high cure rate for children with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Sickle Cell Pro-Inflammatory Response to Interval Training Study (SPRINTS)

Recommendations for exercise prescription currently do not exist for individuals with sickle cell anemia (SCA) despite the known impact that SCA-related complications has on physical functioning and fitness. A major barrier to increasing physical activity in SCA is the concern that the well-described inflammatory effects of exercise could precipitate or exacerbate complications such as vaso-occlusive pain or airway bronchoconstriction (i.e. exercise-induced asthma). Although the investigator’s preliminary data suggest that increasing physical activity may be beneficial rather than harmful in children with SCA, the pro-inflammatory effects associated with repeated bouts of moderate to vigorous exercise remain poorly understood in this population. The long term goal is to address the safety and health impact of regular exercise in children with SCA. This proposal would help establish the safety of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise in children with SCA and importantly, will inform the design of future clinical trials focused on exercise training as a transformative strategy to improve fitness and overall well-being in this population.

A Study of Ribociclib and Everolimus Following Radiation Therapy in Children With Newly Diagnosed Non-biopsied Diffuse Pontine Gliomas (DIPG) and RB+ Biopsied DIPG and High Grade Gliomas (HGG)

In this research study, we want to learn about the safety of the study drugs, ribociclib and everolimus, when given together at different doses after radiation therapy. We also want to learn about the effects, if any, these drugs have on children and young adults with brain tumors.

We are asking people to be in this research study who have been diagnosed with a high grade glioma, their tumor has been screened for the Rb1 protein, and they have recently finished radiation therapy. If a patient has DIPG or a Bi-thalamic high grade glioma, they do not need to have the tumor tissue screened for the Rb1 protein, but do need to have finished radiation therapy.

The study drugs, ribociclib and everolimus, have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ribociclib is approved to treat adults with breast cancer and everolimus is approved for use in adults and children who have other types of cancers. The combination of ribociclib and everolimus has not been tested in children or in people with brain tumors and is considered investigational.

A Phase I Study of AdV-tk + Prodrug Therapy in Combination With Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors

This study will evaluate the administration of AdV-tk followed by valacyclovir in children with malignant glioma, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and anaplastic astrocytoma (AA), as well as recurrent ependymomas in combination with radiation therapy. The primary objective is to determine if this approach is safe and can be effectively delivered without disturbing standard therapy.

Trial of Heat Shock Protein Peptide Complex-96 (HSPPC-96) Vaccine

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Heat Shock Protein Peptide Complex-96 (HSPPC-96) Vaccine is an feasible and safe treatment for pediatric patients with newly-diagnosed High-Grade Gliomas or recurrent, resectable High-Grade Gliomas and Ependymomas.

Selinexor in Treating Younger Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Solid Tumors or High-Grade Gliomas

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of selinexor in treating younger patients with solid tumors or central nervous system (CNS) tumors that have come back (recurrent) or do not respond to treatment (refractory). Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as selinexor, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading.