ThINKK Immune Cell Therapy After Stem Cell Transplant in Children With Leukemia or Neuroblastoma
Tests ThINKK immune therapy in children after transplant for leukemia or neuroblastoma.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Michel Duval
- Where
- Montreal and Toronto, CanadaSee the 2 sites
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Phase I Clinical Trial of ThINKK Adoptive Immunotherapy After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Transplantation in Children With Leukemia or Neuroblastoma
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- Phase
- Phase 1
- People taking part
- 12 people, planned
- Started
- 1 May 2026
- Expected to end
- 1 May 2029
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Therapeutic Inducers of Natural Killer Killing (ThINKK)
- Record updated
- 8 April 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for children aged 2 to 12 with acute leukemia or neuroblastoma who had a donor stem cell transplant 30 to 90 days earlier.
- Age
- 2 to under 13 years old
- Sex
- Boys and girls
- Disease stage
- Acute leukemia or neuroblastoma, with no relapse and no progressive disease.
- Earlier treatment
- Donor (allogeneic) stem cell transplant 30 to 90 days before the trial confirms the child can join. No ongoing systemic cyclosporine.
- Biomarker or test result
- Blood NK cell count of at least 100 x 10E+6 cells/L, measured at least once before eligibility confirmation.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Current grade 3 or 4 acute graft-versus-host disease
- Relapse of the cancer or any other active cancer
- Ongoing high-dose systemic corticosteroids (above 0.5 mg/kg/day prednisone equivalent)
- Uncontrolled life-threatening infection
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 21 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Between 2 and less than 13 years old at time of informed consent form signature
- Diagnosis of acute leukemia or neuroblastoma
- Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation 30 to 90 days prior to eligibility confirmation
- Blood NK cell counts ≥ 100 x 10E+6 cells/L at least once before eligibility confirmation
- Life expectancy of ≥ 3 months per investigator's judgment at time of eligibility confirmation
- Patient or legally acceptable representative has provided informed consent based on local regulations and/or guidelines prior to any study-specific activities/procedures being initiated
Who cannot take part
- Ongoing therapy with systemic corticosteroids (equivalent to a prednisone dose >0.5 mg/kg/day). Patients actively undergoing corticosteroid tapering during Screening may be enrolled once they have reached a prednisone-equivalent dose ≤ 0.5 mg/kg/day with Sponsor-Investigator approval, with the expectation that the taper will continue
- Ongoing systemic therapy with cyclosporine
- Ongoing therapy with intravenous vasopressor agent
- Relapse of primary malignancy, or any other active malignancy; For leukemia, defined as either morphological relapse or Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) ≥0.01% as measured by flow cytometry. MRD detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) does not constitute an exclusion criterion; For neuroblastoma, defined as a progressive disease
- Uncontrolled life-threatening symptomatic infection(s)
- Any condition that, in the opinion of the Investigator, would compromise the safety of the patient, would prevent full participation in this study, or would interfere with the evaluation of any study endpoints
- Aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase serum levels ≥5 times the upper limit of normal
- Direct bilirubin serum levels ≥3 times the ULN (unless due to Gilbert syndrome)
- Baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate < 50 mL/min/1.73 m2, as determined using the Bedside Schwartz equation for < 18 years of age
- Blood pressure below the 5th percentile for age, sex, and height last 24 hours
- Current grade 3 or 4 acute GvHD (per MAGIC criteria)
- Administration or planned administration of any prohibited treatment listed in ad hoc section
- Grade 4 diarrhea (ie, life-threatening consequences with urgent intervention indicated)
- O2 Sat saturation <90% on room air by pulse oximetry
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding or absence of highly effective methods of contraception for males and females of childbearing potential who engage in heterosexual intercourse
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 2 and 12 years old?
Where in Canada
- CHU Sainte-JustineMontreal, CanadaContact: Henrique Bittencourt, MDNo longer taking part
- The Hospital for Sick ChildrenToronto, CanadaContact: Joerg Krueger, MDNo longer taking part
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
A first-in-class adoptive immunotherapy we called ThINKK, for Therapeutic Inducers of Natural Killer (NK) cell Killing, have been designed for use after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), where the proper stimulation of graft-derived NK cells has been shown to prevent relapse.
Read full original descriptionShow less
ThINKK immunotherapy builds on our earlier research on NK cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) in cord blood and after HSCT. PDC are the sentinels of the immune system. Upon viral nucleic acids detection, PDC secrete a vast array of chemokines and cytokines that stimulate NK cells. PDC stimulation enhances NK cells killing of infected cells that express stress-induced molecules. Cancer cells also express stress-related molecules at their surface. However, NK cells do not receive PDC stimulation when fighting cancer. ThINKK therapy is designed to provide this necessary stimulation.
The group in the trial
- TreatmentTreatment being tested
Treatment: Therapeutic Inducers of Natural Killer Killing (ThINKK)
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Phase I Clinical Trial of Therapeutic Inducers of Natural Killer Killing (ThINKK) Adoptive Immunotherapy: Feasibility, Safety and Pharmacodynamics in Children Undergoing Allogenic Hematopoietic Transplantation for Leukemia or Neuroblastoma
- Plain-language title
- ThINKK Immune Cell Therapy After Stem Cell Transplant in Children With Leukemia or NeuroblastomaGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07518654, who can take part
- Record updated
- 8 April 2026