ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT03500731Updated Jan 13, 2026

Lung and Bone Marrow Transplantation for Lung and Bone Marrow Failure

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of CD3/CD19 negative hematopoietic stem cells and Rituximab in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema or COPD, sponsored by Paul Szabolcs. Recruiting at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-13.

Sponsored by Paul Szabolcs · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Apr 2018; still recruiting 8 years 6 months later.
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
8
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a lung transplantation prior to bone marrow transplantation (BMT) would allow for restoration of pulmonary function prior to BMT, allowing to proceed to BMT, to restore hematologic function.

Read the detailed description

The primary purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of performing lung transplantation followed by cadaveric, partially HLA-matched (≥1/6 HLA-match with an identical ABO blood type) CD3+/CD19+ depleted bone marrow transplantation in bone marrow failure and end-stage lung disease. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, and fatal interstitial lung disease for which lung transplantation is the only therapy shown to prolong survival. Given the association of IPF with hematologic cytopenias and bone marrow failure, it is proposed that a tandem lung transplantation and bone marrow transplantation from a single cadaveric donor could be successful. This protocol focuses on performing combined transplantation for candidates that are unable to undergo standard lung transplantation. Lung transplantation prior to bone marrow transplantation (BMT) would allow for restoration of pulmonary function prior to BMT, and to restore hematologic function post BMT transplantation. The secondary objectives are to evaluate the feasibility and long-term complications associated with combined solid organ and BMT including the ability to initiate and successfully withdraw from immunosuppression following BMT and to attain independence from growth factors, red blood cell or platelet transfusions.

02

Conditions studied

  • Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
  • Emphysema or COPD

Keywords

  • Lung Transplantation
  • Stem Cell Transplantation
  • Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
  • Emphysema or COPD
  • Bone marrow transplantation
  • Cadaveric donor
  • Unrelated donor
  • HLA-Mismatch
  • BMT
  • HSCT
  • IPF
  • Pulmonary fibrosis
03

In context

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

576 studies on the registry are indexed under Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis; 123 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 8 is below the median of 55 across 389 interventional studies indexed under Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Browse Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis studies →

Lead sponsor

Paul Szabolcs is the lead sponsor of 9 studies on the registry; 9 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 60 Years
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

Individuals must meet all of the following criteria in order to be eligible for this study.

  1. Subject must be able to understand and provide .
  2. Male or female, 18 through 60 years old, inclusive, at the time of informed consent.
  3. Meet criteria for UNOS listing for lung transplantation.
  4. Patients must have evidence of end stage lung disease. Examples of such diseases include but are not limited to:

    • Pulmonary Fibrosis
    • /Emphysema
  5. Patients must have evidence of bone marrow failure with abnormal low cell count in at least one hematopoietic line, making the patient a poor candidate for long-term therapy. Eligible patients must meet at least one of the following criteria:

    • Unexplained, non-drug induced neutropenia with absolute neutrophils counts of \<1500/µL the previous year, confirmed by repeat testing
    • Unexplained, non-drug induced thrombocytopenia with mean counts of \<100,000/µL the previous year, confirmed by repeat testing
    • Unexplained, non-hemolytic anemia, with a level of \< 12 g/dL the previous year, confirmed by repeat testing
  6. ≥45 mL/min/1.73 m2.
  7. , ALT ≤4x , total ≤ 2.5 mg/dL, normal , albumin >3.0 g/dL
  8. Cardiac ≥ 40% or shortening fraction ≥26%.
  9. Negative pregnancy test for females, unless surgically sterilized.
  10. All females of and sexually active males must agree to use a FDA approved method of for up to 24 months after BMT or for as long as they are taking any medication that may harm a pregnancy, an unborn child or may cause birth defect.
  11. Subject will also be counseled regarding the potential risks of infertility following BMT and advised to discuss sperm banking or oocyte harvesting.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Individuals who meet any of these criteria are not eligible for this study.

  1. Inability or unwillingness of a participant to give written or comply with study protocol.
  2. Patients who have underlying malignant conditions.
  3. Patients who have non-malignant conditions not requiring BMT.
  4. positive by serology or PCR, HTLV positive by serology. If HTLV serology is positive, it will be confirmed by nucleic acid testing (NAT). If HTLV NAT is negative, subject will remain eligible regardless of HTLV serology result.
  5. Females who are pregnant or who are lactating.
  6. Allergy to DMSO or any other ingredient used in the manufacturing of the stem cell product.
  7. Uncontrolled pulmonary infection, as determined by radiographic findings and/or significant clinical deterioration. NOTE: Pulmonary colonization with multiple organisms is common and will not be considered an exclusion criterion.
  8. Uncontrolled infection, as determined by the appropriate imaging and/or confirmatory testing e.g. blood cultures, PCR testing, etc.
  9. Recent recipient of any licensed or (s) within 4 weeks of transplant.
  10. Past or current medical problems or findings from physical examination or laboratory testing that are not listed above, which, in the opinion of the investigator, may pose additional risks from participation in the study, may interfere with the participant's ability to comply with study requirements or that may impact the quality or interpretation of the data obtained from the study.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(16)

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.

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.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

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.

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.

INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)

Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.

Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Live vaccines

Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
8 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Lung and Bone Marrow Transplantation

    All patients will undergo a cadaveric, partially HLA-matched lung transplantation followed by a CD3+/CD19+ depleted BMT from the same donor. In this study, the investigators will use a ≥1/6 HLA-matched T cell depleted bone marrow transplantation from a cadaveric organ donor with an identical ABO blood type as the recipient. Prior to transplantation, the marrow will be negatively selected for CD3/CD19 using a CliniMACS® depletion device. Subjects will undergo lung transplantation utilizing standard induction regimens selected by the CO-PIs based on the subject's underlying comorbidities and allosensitization. Rituximab may be initiated prior to the lung transplantation with tacrolimus as the ongoing maintenance immunosuppression. Subjects will undergo BMT utilizing CD3+/CD19+-depleted bone marrow with bone marrow conditioning beginning no less than 8 weeks after lung transplantation. Bone marrow will be recovered alongside solid organs and will be processed and cryopreserved.

    Biological: CD3/CD19 negative hematopoietic stem cells · Drug: Rituximab · Drug: Alemtuzumab · Drug: Fludarabine · Drug: Thiotepa · Drug: G-CSF · Drug: Hydroxyurea

Interventions

  • BiologicalCD3/CD19 negative hematopoietic stem cells

    Negative selection for CD3/CD19 will be performed on CliniMACS® depletion device and given at time no less than 8 weeks post lung transplantation

  • Transplantation Conditioning

    Also known as: Rituxan

  • Transplantation Conditioning

    Also known as: Campath-1H

  • Transplantation Conditioning

    Also known as: Fludara, Oforta

  • Transplantation Conditioning

  • DrugG-CSF

    Transplantation conditioning

    Also known as: Neupogen, Granix, Zarxio, Filgrastim

  • Transplantation Conditioning

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Death

    How many, if any, patients die

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  2. Engraftment failure

    How many, if any, develop engraftment failure

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  3. Non-hematologic events

    Any Grade 4 event that happens at any time points

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  4. Hematological events

    Any Grade 4 hematological events

    Time frame: after 30 days post stem cell transplant

  5. BOS Score

    Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS) score based off patient pulmonary function testing. Graded on scale (BOS0 to BOS3), BOS0 having a better outcome then BOS3

    Time frame: at 1 year post lung transplant

  6. T-cell Chimerism

    The number of patients who have ≥25% donor T-cell chimerism

    Time frame: at 12 months post stem cell transplant

  7. Myeloid chimerism

    The number of patients with myeloid disorders who attain ≥ 10% myeloid chimerism

    Time frame: at 12 months post stem cell transplant

  8. Restoration of blood cell count (in absence of growth factors)

    Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)≥1000 per microliter of blood, platelets ≥50000 per microliter of blood and hematocrit ≥8 grams per deciliter of blood

    Time frame: at 12 months post stem cell transplant

Secondary outcomes

  1. Feasibility of patients able to proceed to BMT within 6 months following lung transplantation

    The number of patients who are able to proceed to BMT within 6 months following lung transplantation

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  2. Independence

    The number of patients who are able to be independent from transfusions and growth factors for at least 7 days

    Time frame: up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  3. Independence

    The number of patients who are able to be independent from transfusions and growth factors for at least 1 month

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  4. Tolerance development to both host and pulmonary grafting

    Development of tolerance to both the host and pulmonary graft

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  5. Long-term complications

    Long-term complications of combined solid organ and BMT

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  6. Acute cellular rejection

    The number of patients who develop acute cellular rejection

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  7. Acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD)

    The number of patients who develop acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD)

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  8. Chronic graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD)

    The number of patients who develop chronic graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD)

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  9. Ability to withdrawal immunosuppression

    The number of patients who are able to start immunosuppression withdrawal.

    Time frame: By 1 year post stem cell transplant

  10. Time to withdraw immunosuppression

    Time from BMT to withdrawal of immunosuppression

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  11. Prophylactic antimicrobial drugs

    Time from BMT to independence for prophylactic antimicrobial drugs

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  12. Treatment antimicrobial drugs

    Time from BMT to independence from treatment antimicrobial drugs

    Time frame: up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  13. Chronic lung allograft dysfunction

    The number of patients who develop chronic lung allograft dysfunction post lung transplant for all subjects, lung only and lung +stem cell transplant.

    Time frame: 1 year post lung transplant

Other outcomes

  1. Pace of immune reconstitution

    The pace of immune reconstitution, systemically and in mucosal surfaces

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

  2. Mixed chimerism

    The number of patients who have the incidence of mixed chimerism (.5% host cells)

    Time frame: at Months 1, 3, 6 and 12 post stem cell transplant

  3. In vitro immune tolerance

    The number of patients who have in vitro immune tolerance

    Time frame: Up to 2 years post stem cell transplant

07

Study locations

2 of 2 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 13, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03500731
Lead sponsor
Paul Szabolcs
Responsible party
Paul Szabolcs (Chief, Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, University of Pittsburgh) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Apr 18, 2018
Start date
Apr 19, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 13, 2026

Study contacts

Paul Szabolcs, M.D.
Contact
Paul.Szabolcs@chp.edu
412-692-5427
Shawna H McIntyre, RN
Contact
mcintyresm@upmc.edu
412-692-5552 ext. 4126925552

Oversight

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

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Rituximab · Alemtuzumab · Fludarabine · Thiotepa · Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor · Hydroxyurea

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