Donor cells take on tough leukemia in early trial

NCT ID NCT04220684

First seen Jan 11, 2026 · Last updated Jun 22, 2026 · Updated 26 times

Summary

This early-phase trial tested the safety of giving donor natural killer (NK) cells to 19 patients with acute myeloid leukemia that had returned or not responded to treatment. Patients first received chemotherapy, then up to six infusions of specially grown NK cells from a donor. The main goal was to find a safe dose and watch for side effects, especially graft-versus-host disease.

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This is a summary of the original study . Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.

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Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

    Columbus, Ohio, 43210, United States

  • Oregon Health & Science University

    Portland, Oregon, 24344, United States

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance

donor natural killer cells (KDS-1001) plus chemotherapy (cytarabine and fludarabine)

What this could lead to

If it works, this could point toward a new treatment option for patients with hard-to-treat acute myeloid leukemia.

What could go wrong

This is a very early (phase 1) safety trial with only 19 people, so it is not yet known if the treatment works. There are risks of serious side effects like graft-versus-host disease.

Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

acute myeloid leukemia Myelodysplastic Syndromes

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.