Gene Therapy Clinical Trials for Chronic Granulomatous Disease

该项目涉及用自体造血干细胞靶向基因疗法治疗X连锁慢性肉芽肿病的治疗性临床试验。患有CGD的患者具有缺陷的循环血液中性粒细胞，其不能产生杀微生物的过氧化氢。他们经常遭受威胁生命的感染和过早死亡。 大约六年前，我们完成了一项临床试验的基因治疗的遗传缺陷的吞噬细胞免疫系统被称为X连锁形式的慢性肉芽肿病（X-CGD）。 在我们的一些基因疗法治疗的患者中，外周血中高达1/400的循环中性粒细胞在基因疗法后表现出功能校正。这种峰值水平的校正发生在治疗后3至6周，并且在多次输注自体离体基因校正的CD 34+祖细胞治疗的5名患者中的3名中，效果可以持续超过一年。这些基因治疗研究表明，有可能通过基因治疗对患者的CGD缺陷提供低水平的部分和短暂的纠正。2004年，来自德国的一个治疗X-CGD患者的小组报告了一项类似的CGD基因治疗试验的结果;然而，他们还包括剂量为8 mg/kg的化疗剂白消安，以在骨髓中腾出空间，从而改善植入。 它们在外周血中达到20%的初始水平，然而，也有基因校正的髓样细胞的生长，导致水平增加。然而，这种生长与寡克隆性和克隆的过度表达相关，其中基因治疗载体通过插入诱变激活了MDS 1和其他与骨髓细胞发育相关的基因。 我们自己的插入分析的骨髓血细胞从我们自己以前的CGD基因治疗研究表明显着的多克隆性，没有证据表明含有载体插入MDS 1或其他骨髓调控基因的克隆生长。最近德国X-CGD基因治疗研究和我们自己以前的研究在这方面的差异的原因可能与强启动子活性有关，已知与他们的基于小鼠脾病灶形成病毒的载体相关，相对于我们的MFGS，MFGS来源于小鼠莫洛尼白血病逆转录病毒。 虽然这项试验中的患者没有治愈，第一名患者实际上死于败血症，但这两名患者确实从治疗中获得了一些临床益处。 这两名患者在移植时都有潜在感染，在克隆生长和转导细胞最终沉默之前的初始移植周期间消退。 今年，我们开始招募患者参加我们自己的新基因治疗试验（方案07-I-0017），用于治疗患有标准疗法无法治愈的潜在感染的XCGD患者。基于恒河猴的临床前数据以及患者的临床数据，我们在输注基因修饰的细胞之前以10 mg/kg的剂量使用白消安。 到目前为止，我们已经治疗了两名患者，第一名是28岁的男性，患有多发性肝脓肿，不适合手术或射频消融方法。 该患者最初具有24%阳性细胞的水平，并且在治疗后7个月时，其肝脏肿大消退，其中1.2%的可检测标记持续存在于外周血中。 最近，他发生了一次线感染，结果在他的肝脏上接种了一种金黄色葡萄球菌，与最初的感染不同。 他对口服抗生素有反应，总体上继续做得很好，感染比过去少得多。 他的标记水平在移植后9个月仍然是可检测的，并且没有克隆生长的证据。 第2例患者因胸壁潜在真菌感染接受治疗。 尽管进行了近三年的多微生物治疗，但这种病变仍然存在，因此该患者符合基因治疗方案并于今年6月入组。 然而，他的过程并不成功，因为他似乎已经产生了针对转导细胞的免疫反应，在外周血中最初具有5%标记后一周，转导细胞迅速清除。 这名患者目前正在进行匹配的无关脐带血移植。

This project involves the conduct of therapeutic clinical trials for the treatment of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease with autologous blood stem cell targeted gene therapy. Patients with CGD have defective circulating blood neutrophils that fail to produce microbicidal hydrogen peroxide. They suffer from recurrent life threatening infections and premature mortality. About six years ago we completed a clinical trial of gene therapy for the inherited deficiency of the phagocytic cell immune system known as the X-linked form of chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD). In some of our gene therapy treated patients up to 1 in 400 circulating neutrophils in the peripheral blood demonstrated functional correction following the gene therapy. This peak level of correction occurred at 3 to 6 weeks after therapy and the effect could be sustained for over a year in three of five patients treated with multiple infusions of autologous ex vivo gene corrected CD34+ progenitor cells. These gene therapy studies demonstrated that it is possible to provide a low level partial and transient correction of the CGD defect in patients by gene therapy. In 2004, the results of a similar gene therapy trial for CGD was reported by a group from Germany that treated X-CGD patients; however they also included the chemotherapy agent busulfan at a dose of 8mg/kg to make room in the bone marrow and therefore improve engraftment. They achieved initial levels of 20% in the peripheral blood however, there was also an outgrowth of gene corrected myeloid cells resulting in increasing levels. This outgrowth was however associated with oligoclonality and over-representation of clones in which the gene therapy vector had by insertional mutagenesis activated MDS1 and other genes associated with myeloid cell development. Our own insertional analysis of myeloid blood cells from our own previous CGD gene therapy study demonstrated significant polyclonality and no eveidence of outgrowth of clones containing vector insertion in MDS1 or other myeloid regulatory genes. Cause for the differences between the recent German X-CGD gene therapy study and our own previous studies in this regard may relate to the strong promoter activity known to be associated with their murine spleen focus forming virus based vector relative to our MFGS which is derived from murine Moloney leukemia retrovirus. Although the patients in this trial were not cured, and the first patient actually expired from sepsis, both patients did have some clinical benefit from the treatment. Both patients had an underlying infection at the time of their transplant which resolved in the initial peritransplant period prior to the clonal outgrowth and ultimate silencing of the transduced cells. We have in this year begun enrolling patients on our own new gene therapy trial (Protocol 07-I-0017) for the treatment of patients with XCGD who have an underlying infection not amenable to cure by standard therapies. Based on preclinical data in the rhesus as well as clinical data in a patient, we are using busulfan at a dose of 10mg/kg prior to infusion of the gneentically modified cells. To date we have treated two patients, the first a 28 year old male with multiple liver abscesses, not amenable to surgical or radio frequency ablative approaches. The patient initially had a level of 24% positive cells and at 7 months post treatment had resolution of his liver abscesses, with 1.2% detectable marking persisting in the peripheral blood. Most recently he developed a line infection and as a result seeded his liver with a staph aureus, distinct from the original infection. He has responded to oral antibiotics and overall continues to do well with much fewer infections that in the past. His marking level is still detectable at 9 months post transplant and there is no evidence of clonal outgrowth. The second patient was treated due to an underlying fungal infection of the chest wall. Despite almost three years of ongoing polymicrobial therapy, this lesion has persisted, and therefore the patient was eligible for the gene therapy protocol and enrolled in June of this year. His course, however, was not as successful as he appears to have developed an immune reaction against the transduced cells, with rapid clearance of transduced cells one week after initially having 5% marking in the peripheral blood. This patient is now being worked up for a matched unrelated cord blood transplant.