Genetically Engineered T Cells in Treating Patients with Relapsed and/or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Inclusion Criteria

• Subjects must have a confirmed prior diagnosis of active MM as defined by the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria
• Subjects must have relapsed or refractory disease after either one of the following: * At least 3 prior regimens, which must have contained an alkylating agent, proteasome inhibitor, and immunomodulatory agent (IMiD) OR * At least 2 prior regimens if “double-refractory” to a proteasome inhibitor and IMiD, defined as progression on or within 60 days of treatment with these agents; Note: induction therapy, stem cell transplant, and maintenance therapy, if given sequentially without intervening progression, should be considered as 1 “regimen”
• Subjects must have signed written, informed consent
• Subjects must be at least 90 days since autologous stem cell transplant, if performed
• Serum creatinine =< 2.5 or estimated creatinine clearance >= 30 ml/min and not dialysis-dependent
• Absolute neutrophil count >= 1000/μl
• Platelet count >= 50,000/μl (>= 30,000/μl if bone marrow plasma cells are >= 50% of cellularity)
• Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) =< 3 x the upper limit of normal
• Total bilirubin =< 2.0 mg/dl (except for patients in whom hyperbilirubinemia is attributed to Gilbert’s syndrome)
• Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >= 45%; LVEF assessment must have been performed within 8 weeks of enrollment
• Toxicities from prior therapies, with the exception of peripheral neuropathy attributable to bortezomib, must have recovered to grade =< 2 according to the Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) 4.0 criteria or to the subject’s prior baseline
• Subjects must have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2
• Subjects must have measurable disease on study entry, which must include at least 1 of the following: * Serum M-spike >= 0.5 g/dL * 24 hr urine M-spike >= 200 mg * Involved serum free light chain (FLC) >= 50 mg/L with abnormal ratio * Measurable plasmacytoma on exam or imaging * Bone marrow plasma cells >= 20% (bone marrow biopsy only required at screening if no other measurable disease is present) ** Note: patients with immunoglobulin (Ig)A myeloma in whom serum protein electrophoresis is deemed unreliable, due to co-migration of normal serum proteins with the paraprotein in the beta region, may be considered eligible as long as total serum IgA level is elevated above normal range
• Subjects of reproductive potential must agree to use acceptable birth control methods

Exclusion Criteria

• Subjects must not be pregnant or lactating
• Subjects must not have inadequate venous access for or contraindications to leukapheresis
• Subjects must not have any active and uncontrolled infection
• Subjects must not have active hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
• Any uncontrolled medical or psychiatric disorder that would preclude participation
• Subjects must not have New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV heart failure, unstable angina, or a history of recent (within 6 months) myocardial infarction or sustained (> 30 seconds) ventricular tachyarrhythmias
• Subjects must not have undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation
• Subjects must not have received prior gene therapy or gene-modified cellular immunotherapy; subject may have received, however, non-gene-modified autologous T-cells in association with an anti-myeloma vaccine (e.g., human telomerase reverse transcriptase [hTERT] or melanoma-associated antigen 3 [MAGEA3]) or vaccination against infectious agents (e.g., influenza or pneumococcus) as was performed on our previous studies
• Subjects must not have active auto-immune disease, including connective tissue disease, uveitis, sarcoidosis, inflammatory bowel disease, or multiple sclerosis, or have a history of severe (as judged by the principal investigator) autoimmune disease requiring prolonged immunosuppressive therapy
• Subjects must not have a history of neurodegenerative or central nervous system movement disorder
• Subjects must not have prior or active central nervous system (CNS) involvement (e.g. leptomeningeal disease, parenchymal masses) with myeloma; screening for this (e.g. with lumbar puncture) is not required unless suspicious symptoms are present