ClinicalTrials.gg
SuspendedNCT03494569Updated Sep 28, 2026

Total Marrow and Lymphoid Irradiation, Fludarabine, and Melphalan Before Donor Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Participants With High-Risk Acute Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome

A Phase 1 interventional study of Fludarabine and Laboratory Biomarker Analysis in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Remission and Acute Myeloid Leukemia, sponsored by City of Hope Medical Center. Suspended at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 12 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-28.

Sponsored by City of Hope Medical Center · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was suspended
Accrual goal
Updated Sep 28, 2026Primary completion movedStudy completion movedGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
36
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
12 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This phase I studies the side effects and best dose of total marrow and lymphoid irradiation when given together with fludarabine and melphalan before donor stem cell transplant in treating participants with high-risk acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. Giving chemotherapy, such as fludarabine and melphalan, and total marrow and lymphoid irradiation before a donor stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cells in the bone marrow, including normal blood-forming cells (stem cells) and cancer 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.

Read the detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the maximum tolerated dose/recommended phase II dose (MTD/RP2D) of total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI) with fixed doses of fludarabine and melphalan (FM100) as a preparative regimen in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) and who are not eligible for standard myeloablative regimens, with either a matched donor (Arm A) or a haploidentical donor (Arm B).

II. To describe toxicities attributable to TMLI by dose level in patients treated under this regimen.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the safety of the regimen, at each dose level, by assessing the following: type, frequency, severity, attribution, time course and duration of adverse events, including acute/chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD), infection and delayed engraftment.

II. To investigate the temporal effect of bone marrow residual damage in alloHCT patients after TMLI/FM100.

III. To estimate overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS), cumulative incidence (CI) of relapse/progression, and non-relapse mortality (NRM) at 100 days, 1 year and 2 years.

IV. Assess minimal residual disease (MRD) from bone marrow aspirates on days 30, 100, and 180 post-transplant and describe its relation to TMLI dose level and patient disease status.

V. To evaluate effect of TMLI/FM100 conditioning on immune reconstitution after alloHCT in patients receiving stem cells from matched or haploidentical donors.

OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study of TMLI.

Participants undergo TMLI twice daily (BID) on days -8 to -5, and receive fludarabine intravenously (IV) on days -4 to -2 and melphalan on day -2. Participants then undergo alloHCT on day 0.

After completion of study treatment, participants are followed up twice weekly for 100 days, twice monthly for 6 months, and then monthly or yearly for up to 2 years.

02

Conditions studied

  • Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
  • Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Remission
  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia
  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Remission
  • Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Recipient
  • Minimal Residual Disease
  • Myelodysplastic Syndrome
  • Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia
03

In context

Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma

2,584 studies on the registry are indexed under Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; 473 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 36 is close to the median of 40 across 1,952 interventional studies indexed under Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma.

Browse Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma studies →

Lead sponsor

City of Hope Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 677 studies on the registry; 181 are open to participants now.

Of its 31 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 12 (39%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
12 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Eligible patients with a histopathological confirmed diagnosis of hematologic in one of the following categories:

    • Acute myelogenous leukemia:

      • Patients with de novo or secondary disease in unfavorable risk group including poor risk cytogenetics according to National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for AML i.e., monosomal karyotype, -5, 5q-, -7, 7q-, 11q23-non t (9;11), inv (3), t (3;3),t (6;9), t (9;22) and complex karyotypes (≥ 3 unrelated abnormalities), or all patient in intermediate risk groups accept patients with FLT3-NPM1+ disease
      • Patients with active disease
      • Patients with chemosensitive active disease
    • Acute lymphocytic leukemia:

      • Patients with de novo or secondary disease according to NCCN guidelines for ALL hypoploidy (\< 44 chromosomes); t (v;11q23): MLL rearranged; t (9;22) (q34;q11.2); complex cytogenetics (5 or more chromosomal abnormalities); high white blood cell (WBC) at diagnosis (≥ 30,000 for B lineage or ≥ 50,000 for T lineage); iAMP21loss of 13q, and abnormal 17p
      • Patients with active disease
      • Patients with chemosensitive active disease
    • Myelodysplastic syndrome in high-intermediate (int-2) and high risk categories
  • Patients ≥ 12 years and \< 55 years are also included if they are not candidates for myeloablative conditioning regimens due to comorbidities
  • or Lansky performance status of ≥ 70
  • A pretreatment measured (absolute value) of ≥ 60 ml/minute
  • Patients must have a serum ≤ 2.0 mg/dl
  • Serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase () and serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) ≤ 2.5 times the institutional
  • measured by echocardiogram or multigated acquisition (MUGA) ≥ 50%
  • Carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) and forced expiratory volume > 50% predicted
  • PATIENT-SPECIFIC INCLUSION CRITERIA
  • Patients should have discontinued all previous intensive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy for 2 weeks prior to commencing therapy on this study

    • NOTE: low dose chemotherapy or maintenance chemotherapy given within 7 days of planned study enrollment is permitted; these include hydroxyurea, 6-meraptopurine, oral methotrexate, vincristine, oral etoposide, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs); FLT-3 inhibitors can also be given up to 3 days before conditioning regimen
    • All patients with prior radiation treatment to the lung, liver, and kidney will be excluded; for other scenarios of prior radiation treatment, up to 2000 cGY at 2 gray Gy per day will be allowed; inclusion of patients with previous radiation exposure will be determined based on the radiation oncologist MD evaluation and judgment
  • DONOR: Arm A: All candidates for this study must have an human leukocyte antigen (HLA) (A, B, C, and DR) identical sibling who is willing to donate primed blood stem cells (preferred) or bone marrow, or have a 10/10 (A, B, C, DR and DQ) allele matched unrelated donor; DQ or DP mismatch is allowed per discretion of the principal investigator
  • DONOR: Arm B: The recipient must have a related donor genotypically HLA-A, B, C and DRB1 loci haploidentical to the recipient; no HLA matched sibling or matched unrelated donor is available; DSA is allowed with desensitization done if recommended by donor selection committee (DSC) per City of Hope (COH) standard operating procedures (SOP)
  • DONOR: Both arms: All donors in both arms should be evaluated and approved by DSC

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having any uncontrolled illness including ongoing or active bacterial, viral or fungal infection
  • Receiving any agents or concurrent biological, intensive chemotherapy or radiation therapy for the previous 2 weeks from conditioning

    • NOTE: low dose chemotherapy or maintenance chemotherapy given within 7 days of planned study enrollment is permitted; these include: hydroxyurea, 6-meraptopurine, oral methotrexate, vincristine, oral etoposide, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), FLT-3 inhibitors can also be given up to 3 days before conditioning regimen
  • History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to any in the regimen
  • Patients with other are ineligible for this study, other than non-melanoma skin cancers
  • The recipient has another medical problem or neurologic/psychiatric dysfunction which would impair his/her ability to be compliant with the medical regimen and to tolerate transplantation or would prolong hematologic recovery in which the opinion of the principal investigator would place the recipient at unacceptable risk
  • Patients may not have had a prior or allogeneic transplant
  • Patients may not have received more than 3 prior lines of intensive chemotherapy, where the regimen intent was to induce remission
  • In the opinion of the principal investigator (PI), the participant has a condition that will preclude them from complying with study treatment
  • Women of and men must agree to use adequate (hormonal or barrier method of birth control or abstinence) prior to study entry and for six months following duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect that she is pregnant while participating on the trial, she should inform her treating physician immediately
  • All subjects must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written ; they are to give voluntary written informed consent before performance if any study-related procedure not part of normal medical care, with the understanding that consent may be withdrawn by the subject at any time without prejudice to future medical care; cognitively impaired subjects will be included only if their guardian or legal representative agrees to sign the written informed consent
  • DONOR: Donor selection for both arms must be approved by the donor selection committee
  • DONOR: Evidence of active infection
  • DONOR: Medical or physical reason which makes the donor unlikely to tolerate or cooperate with growth factor therapy or leukapheresis
  • DONOR: Factors which place the donor at increased risk for complications from leukapheresis or granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) therapy could be harvested for bone marrow (BM) if safer for the donor and if approved by the principal investigator (PI)
  • DONOR: (HIV) positive
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(14)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Karnofsky performance status (KPS)

A 0–100 scale of how well someone can carry out everyday activities. 100 is no complaints and no signs of illness; 70 is able to look after yourself but not to work or keep up normal activity; 50 is needing considerable help and frequent medical care.

Studies often ask for 60 or 70 and above. Your doctor gives the score.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)

The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.

FEV1

From a breathing test (spirometry): how much air you can blow out in the first second. Often given as a percentage of what is expected for your age, height and sex.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Allogeneic and autologous transplant

Stem cell (bone marrow) transplants. Allogeneic uses cells from a donor; autologous uses your own cells, collected earlier and given back.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
36 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Treatment (TMLI, fludarabine, melphalan)

    Participants undergo TMLI BID on days -8 to -5, and receive fludarabine IV on days -4 to -2 and melphalan on day -2. Participants then undergo alloHCT on day 0.

    Drug: Fludarabine · Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis · Drug: Melphalan · Radiation: Total Marrow Irradiation

Interventions

  • Given IV

    Also known as: Fluradosa

  • OtherLaboratory Biomarker Analysis

    Correlative studies

  • Given as per City of Hope Standard Operating Procedure

    Also known as: Alanine Nitrogen Mustard, CB-3025, L-PAM, L-Phenylalanine Mustard, L-sarcolysin, L-Sarcolysin Phenylalanine mustard, L-Sarcolysine, Melphalanum, Phenylalanine Mustard, Phenylalanine nitrogen mustard, Sarcoclorin, Sarkolysin, WR-19813

  • RadiationTotal Marrow Irradiation

    Undergo TMLI

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of toxicity

    Toxicity will be scored on both the Bearman scale and National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5 scale. Toxicity information recorded in each patient will include the type, severity, and the probable association with the study regimen. Tables will be constructed to summarize the observed incidence by severity and type of toxicity, and dose levels in each arm.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall survival

    Participants are considered a failure for this endpoint if they die, regardless of cause. Survival estimates will be calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

    Time frame: From start of protocol therapy up to 2 years

  2. Event-free survival

    Participants are considered a failure for this endpoint if they relapse/progress or die, regardless of cause. Survival estimates will be calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

    Time frame: From start of protocol therapy up to 2 years

  3. Relapse/progression

    Death without relapse/progression is considered a competing risk.

    Time frame: From start of protocol therapy up to 2 years

  4. Complete remission proportion

    Time frame: At day 30

  5. Non-relapse mortality

    Participants are considered a failure for this endpoint if they die from causes other than disease relapse or progression.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

  6. Incidence of infection

    Microbiologically documented infections will be reported by site of disease, date of onset, severity and resolution, if any. These data will be captured via case report form.

    Time frame: Up to day 100 post-transplant

  7. Incidence of toxicities/adverse events (AEs)

    Toxicities that meet grade 3, 4, or 5 per the Bearman scale and CTCAE v 4.03 from day -9 to day -1, from day 0 to day +30, and again from day +31 to +100 post-transplant will be collected. Any AEs occurring from day -9 to day +30 will be followed until they resolve. Start and stop dates will also be recorded for any grade 4 neutropenia.

    Time frame: Up to 100 days post-transplant

  8. Neutrophil recovery

    This will be measured from stem cell infusion to the first to three consecutive days with neutrophil count greater than 0.5 x 10\^9/l.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

  9. Acute graft versus host disease of grades 2-4 and 3-4

    Documented/biopsy proven acute graft versus host disease is graded according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus staging. This measurement will be used to estimate the cumulative incidence.

    Time frame: Up to 100 days post-transplant

  10. Chronic graft versus host disease

    This will be scored according to NIH consensus staging and will be used to estimate the cumulative incidence.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

  11. CD4+, CD8+ and CD56+16+

    Immunophenotyping of lymphocyte subsets will be determined by flow cytometry.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

  12. Bone marrow (BM) residual damage

    BM cellularity will be assessed using histology and clonogenic in vitro assays.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

  13. Immune reconstitution

    This will be monitored by flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

07

Study locations

1 site
  • City of Hope Medical Center
    Duarte, California 91010, United States
08

Timeline

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedDate before it movedWhere the date was before it moved

Started Jul 2018 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 110 months after the start.

Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Sep 28, 2026: primary completion Sep 2026 → Sep 2027 and completion Sep 2026 → Sep 2027.

Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Apr 4, 2018
First posted
Apr 11, 2018
StartActual
Jul 6, 2018
Primary completionEst.
Sep 7, 2027was Sep 2026
CompletionEst.
Sep 7, 2027was Sep 2026
Last update
Sep 28, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
Primary completion
Sep 8, 2026→Sep 7, 2027
Sep 28, 2026
Study completion
Sep 8, 2026→Sep 7, 2027
Sep 28, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Sep 28, 2026
    Primary completion Sep 8, 2026→Sep 7, 2027
    Study completion Sep 8, 2026→Sep 7, 2027
    + 1 other change: verification date

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03494569
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Apr 11, 2018
Start date
Jul 6, 2018
Primary completion
Sep 7, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 7, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 28, 2026

Study contacts

Monzr Al Malki
principal investigator · City of Hope Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is suspended, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Fludarabine · Melphalan

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