New cell therapy aims to make stem cell transplants safer for blood cancer patients
NCT ID NCT07216443
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jul 08, 2026 · Updated 3 times
Summary
This phase 2 trial is testing a new treatment called Orca-T for people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Orca-T is a personalized cell therapy made from a donor's blood that includes stem cells and immune cells. The goal is to see if it can improve transplant success and reduce serious side effects like graft-versus-host disease. About 80 adults will take part in the study.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Orca-T (a stem cell and T-cell therapy made from a donor's blood)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, Orca-T could offer a safer and more effective stem cell transplant option for people with blood cancers, reducing the risk of graft-versus-host disease and relapse.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-phase trial with only 80 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. There are risks of infection, graft failure, or severe immune reactions.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 80 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Dec 2025
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age ≥18 years at the time of enrollment 2. Diagnosed with 1 of the following diseases: 1. Acute myeloid, or mixed phenotype leukemia in complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi), with or without the presence of known minimal residual disease. 2. Myelodysplastic syndrome that is indicated for alloHCT per the 2017 International Expert Panel recommendations and/or therapy-related/secondary MDS as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of myeloid malignancies, with ≤10% blast burden in the bone marrow. 3. Planned to undergo 1 of the following preparative regimens as per Investigator discretion: 1. RIC cohort: Planned RIC-alloHCT including RIC regimen with TBI/thiotepa/fludarabine 2. NMA cohort: Planned NMA-alloHCT including NMA regimen with fludarabine/cyclophosphamide/TBI 4. Identified related or unrelated donor who is an 8/8 match for HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 5. Estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥30 mL/minute 6. Cardiac ejection fraction at rest ≥40% or shortening fraction of ≥22% by echocardiogram or radionuclide scan (MUGA) 7. Diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (adjusted for hemoglobin) ≥40% 8. Negative serum or urine β-HCG test in persons of childbearing potential 9. Alanine transaminase (ALT)/aspartate transaminase (AST) \<5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) 10. Total bilirubin \<3 × ULN 11. Deemed ineligible for a fully myeloablative alloHCT per assessment of the principal investigator Exclusion Criteria: 1. Prior alloHCT 2. Currently receiving corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive therapy. Topical corticosteroids or oral systemic corticosteroid doses less than or equal to 10 mg/day are allowed. 3. Planned donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) 4. Planned pharmaceutical in vivo or ex vivo T-cell depletion 5. Recipient-positive antidonor HLA antibodies against a mismatched allele in the selected donor 6. Karnofsky performance score \<60% 7. For RIC cohort only: HCT-Specific Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI) ≥6 8. Uncontrolled bacterial, viral, or fungal infection (currently taking antimicrobial therapy and with progression or no clinical improvement) at the time of enrollment 9. Seropositive for HIV-1 or -2, HTLV-1 or -2, hepatitis B surface antigen, or HCV antibody unless previously treated with curative therapy and are HCV NAT negative 10. Known allergy or hypersensitivity to or intolerance of tacrolimus 11. Documented allergy or hypersensitivity to iron dextran or bovine, murine, algal, or Streptomyces avidinii proteins 12. Any uncontrolled autoimmune disease requiring active immunosuppressive treatment 13. Concurrent malignancy within 1 year except nonmelanoma skin cancer that has been curatively resected 14. Psychosocial circumstances that preclude the participant being able to go through transplantation or participate responsibly in follow-up care 15. Persons who are pregnant or breastfeeding 16. Person of childbearing potential (POCBP) or men who have sexual contact with POCBP who are unwilling to use effective forms of birth control or abstinence for 1 year after transplantation. 17. Any serious medical condition or abnormality in clinical laboratory tests that, in the investigator's or medical monitor's judgment, precludes the recipient's safe participation in and completion of the trial or which could affect compliance with the protocol or interpretation of results
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The study's own enquiry address
This study publishes an address for enquiries. See it below .
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The places running it
6 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Show contact details
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Study contacts
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Contact
Email: •••••@•••••
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Contact
Email: •••••@•••••
Locations
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John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center
RECRUITINGHackensack, New Jersey, 07601, United States
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Moffitt Cancer Center
RECRUITINGTampa, Florida, 33612, United States
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Oregon Health and Science University
RECRUITINGPortland, Oregon, 97239, United States
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UCLA Department of Medicine
RECRUITINGLos Angeles, California, 90095, United States
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Vanderbilt University, Ingram Cancer Center
RECRUITINGNashville, Tennessee, 37232, United States
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Weill Cornell Medicine - New York Presbyterian Hospital
RECRUITINGNew York, New York, 10065, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can adding venetoclax make donor stem cell transplants safer for High-Risk blood cancers?
- Tweaking donor cells may shield older transplant patients from a dangerous complication
- Can starting anemia drug sooner keep MDS patients off transfusions?
- Blood cancer registry tracks thousands to map disease course
- New drug combination targets Hard-to-Treat blood cancers
- Can a calming drug make cord blood transplants safer?