Pralatrexate + Bendamustine and TBI Before Donor Transplant

OUTLINE: This is a phase I dose-escalation study of pralatrexate in combination with bendamustine and TBI followed by a phase II expansion study. Patients receive pralatrexate intravenously (IV) over 3-5 minutes on day -6, bendamustine IV over 60 minutes on days -5, -4, and -3, and TBI on day -1 or 0. Patients then undergo peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) HCT on day 0.

Patients also undergo echocardiography (ECHO) or multi-gated acquisition scan (MUGA) and lumbar puncture during screening, positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), bone marrow biopsy/aspiration, and blood sample collection throughout the study. In addition, patients may undergo chest X-rays as clinically indicated. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 6 and 9 months and at 1, 1.5 and 2 years.

Giving pralatrexate with bendamustine and TBI before a donor stem cell transplant may help kill cancer cells in the body and help make room in the patient's bone marrow for new blood-forming cells (stem cells) to grow.

This phase I/II trial studies the side effects and best dose of pralatrexate in combination with bendamustine and total-body irradiation (TBI) followed by a donor stem cell transplant in treating patients with T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that has come back after a period of improvement (relapsed) or that has not responded to previous treatment (refractory). Pralatrexate may block the growth of cancer cells and cause them to die.

It is a type of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor. Bendamustine may damage the DNA in cancer cells and cause them to die. It is a type of alkylating agent and a type of antimetabolite. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays, particles, or radioactive seeds to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. TBI is a type of radiation therapy that is given to the entire body.

Live record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

• Age ≥ 18 years with an HCT-Comorbidity Index (CI) ≤ 5 for patients over 60 years
• T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (T-NHL) (2022 World Health Organization [WHO] criteria) including primary cutaneous T-NHL that is in untreated or unsuccessfully treated first or subsequent relapse. Patients in morphologic remission (i.e. < 5% blasts in the bone marrow, if involved) but evidence of minimal residual disease (MRD) by positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), multiparameter flow cytometry, cytogenetics/fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), or molecular means will be eligible for trial participation
• The use of bridging chemotherapy prior to initiation of study treatment is allowed. Patients with symptoms/signs of hyperleukocytosis, white blood cells (WBC) > 100,000/µL, or with concern for other complications of high tumor burden of high tumor dynamics (e.g. disseminated intravascular coagulation) can be treated with leukapheresis or may receive a cycle of salvage chemotherapy prior to start of study treatment
• Karnofsky score ≥ 70; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-1
• Adequate cardiac function defined as absence of decompensated congestive heart failure and/or uncontrolled arrhythmia and left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 45%
• Bilirubin ≤ 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal unless elevation is thought to be due to hepatic infiltration by lymphoma, Gilbert's syndrome, or hemolysis

Inclusion criteria as written on the registry, trimmed. The full list, with exclusions, is on the live record.