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Active, not recruitingNCT04877613Updated Jul 22, 2026

GFRα4 CAR T Cells in MTC Patients

A Phase 1 interventional study of single dose of CART-GFRa4 cells and Fludarabine in Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Cancer and Recurrent Thyroid Gland Medullary Carcinoma, sponsored by University of Pennsylvania. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-22.

Sponsored by University of Pennsylvania · Phase 1, Interventional, and Health services research

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
9
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is an open-label phase 1 study to assess the safety and feasibility of autologous T cells expressing a single-chain scFv targeting GFRα4 with tandem TCR/CD3ζ and 4-1BB (TCRζ/4-1BB) co-stimulatory domains (referred to as "CART-GFRa4 cells") in patients with incurable medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).

02

Conditions studied

  • Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Cancer
  • Recurrent Thyroid Gland Medullary Carcinoma

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03

In context

Carcinoma, Medullary

65 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma, Medullary; 17 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 9 is below the median of 41 across 49 interventional studies indexed under Carcinoma, Medullary.

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Lead sponsor

University of Pennsylvania is the lead sponsor of 1,635 studies on the registry; 239 are open to participants now.

Of its 154 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 104 (68%) have results posted.

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

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Who can participate

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

Inclusion criteria

  1. Signed, written informed consent
  2. Male or female age ≥ 18 years
  3. Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).
  4. Incurable recurrent/metastatic disease that is progressive after at least 1 prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) containing regimen, or the patient was intolerant of or declined such therapy.
  5. Adequate organ function defined as:

    1. Serum creatinine ≤ 2.5 mg/dl or estimated creatinine clearance ≥ 30 ml/min and not on dialysis.
    2. AST ≤ 5x upper limit of normal range and total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dl; except for patients in whom hyperbilirubinemia is attributed to Gilbert's syndrome.
    3. Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) ≥ 45% confirmed by ECHO/MUGA
    4. Must have a minimum level of pulmonary reserve defined as ≤ Grade 1 dyspnea and pulse oxygen greater than 92% on room air.
  6. ECOG Performance Status that is either 0 or 1.
  7. Toxicities from prior therapies must have recovered to grade ≤ 2 according to the CTCAE 5.0 criteria or to the patient's prior baseline.
  8. Patients must have evaluable disease as defined by RECIST 1.1.
  9. Subjects of reproductive potential must agree to use acceptable birth control methods.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Evidence of active hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection. The following would not qualify as an active infection, thus would not exclude the subject from participating

    1. Positive HBV serology with undetectable viral load and ongoing antiviral prophylaxis for potential HBV reactivation.
    2. Positive HCV serology with quantitative PCR for plasma HCV RNA below the lower limit of detection, with or without concurrent antiviral HCV treatment.
  2. Any other active, uncontrolled infection.
  3. Any prior history of moderate to severe (Grade 2 or higher) pneumonitis.
  4. Subjects with chronic kidney disease with Grade 2 or higher renal impairment (eGFR or CrCl 59-30 ml/min/1.73 m2).
  5. Class III/IV cardiovascular disability according to the New York Heart Association Classification.
  6. Clinically apparent arrhythmia or arrhythmias that are not stable on medical management within two weeks of physician-investigator confirmation of eligibility.
  7. Planned concurrent treatment with systemic high dose corticosteroids. Patients may be on a stable low dose of steroids (≤10mg equivalent of prednisone). Use of inhaled steroids is allowable. Corticosteroid treatment as anti-emetic prophylaxis on the day of lymphodepleting chemotherapy administration is allowed per institutional practice.
  8. Any moderate to severe skin rash or allergies requiring systemic treatment.
  9. Receipt of immune checkpoint inhibitors within 2 months prior to physician-investigator confirmation of eligibility - Retired with Protocol Version 3.
  10. Pregnant or nursing (lactating) women.
  11. Active autoimmune disease requiring systemic immunosuppressive treatment equivalent to ≥ 10mg daily of prednisone. Patients with autoimmune neurological diseases (such as MS or Parkinson's) will be excluded.
  12. Have any history of prior or active central nervous system (CNS) involvement (e.g., leptomeningeal disease, parenchymal masses) with MTC. Screening for this (e.g., with lumbar puncture and/or brain MRI) is not required unless suspicious symptoms and/or radiographic findings are present. Subjects with calvarial metastatic disease that extends intracranially and involves the dura will be excluded, even if CSF is negative for MTC.
  13. Known seizure disorder or history of prior seizures requiring medication.
  14. History of allergy or hypersensitivity to study product excipients (human serum albumin, DMSO, and Dextran 40).
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
9 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Cohort 1: single dose of 5x10^7 CART-GFRa4 cells via intravenous infusion

    Drug: single dose of CART-GFRa4 cells · Drug: Fludarabine · Drug: Cyclophosphamide

  • Experimental
    Cohort -1: single dose of 2x10^7 CART-GFRa4 cells via intravenous infusion

    Drug: single dose of CART-GFRa4 cells · Drug: Fludarabine · Drug: Cyclophosphamide

  • Experimental
    Cohort 2: single dose of 1x10^8 CART-GFRa4 cells via intravenous infusion

    Drug: single dose of CART-GFRa4 cells · Drug: Fludarabine · Drug: Cyclophosphamide

  • Experimental
    Cohort 3: single fixed dose of 3x10^8 CART-GFRa4 cells via intravenous infusion

    Drug: single dose of CART-GFRa4 cells · Drug: Fludarabine · Drug: Cyclophosphamide

Interventions

  • Drugsingle dose of CART-GFRa4 cells

    Intravenous infusion of lentiviral transduced autologous T cells that have been engineered to express an extracellular single chain antibody (scFv) with specificity towards GFRa4 with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide.

  • DrugFludarabine

    Lymphodepletion

  • DrugCyclophosphamide

    Lymphodepletion

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events as assessed by CTCAE v5.0.

    Time frame: 15 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Percentage of manufacturing products that meet release criteria.

    Time frame: 3 months

  2. Number of subjects who have a response (ORR)

    Time frame: 12 months

  3. Best Overall Response (BOR)

    Time frame: 12 months

  4. Duration of Response (DOR)

    Time frame: 12 months

  5. Overall survival (OS)

    Time frame: 12 months

  6. Progression-free survival (PFS)

    Time frame: 12 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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 Jul 22, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04877613
Lead sponsor
University of Pennsylvania
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 7, 2021
Start date
Aug 19, 2021
Primary completion
Jun 1, 2039 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 1, 2039 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 22, 2026

Study contacts

Roger Cohen, MD
principal investigator · University of Pennsylvania

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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