Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD
MD Anderson

Glioblastomas (GBM) are tumors of the brain that are highly malignant. They are difficult to treat and therapy usually includes radiation and chemotherapy. The median survival rate is about 14.6 months with less than 10% of the patients surviving five years or longer.

The purpose of this study is to determine if immunotherapy can target a virus (cytomegalovirus or CMV) that is commonly found in glioblastoma cancer cells but not in normal brain tissue. Forty-four patients will be enrolled over a two year period.

This study will determine the safety and feasibility of using a laboratory-created CMVspecific T cell vaccine in patients who have been newly diagnosed with GMB or have recurrent GMB. It will also assess if adding a strong chemotherapeutic agent (temozolomide) or genetically modifying the T-cells can reduce the glioma’s defenses, thus boosting the effectiveness of the anti-GMV vaccine.


Clinical Description
Glioblastomas (GBM) are tumors of the brain that are usually highly malignant (cancerous) because the cells reproduce quickly. Glioblastoma can be difficult to treat and the treatment plan often combines several approaches, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Even with intensive therapy the median survival of patients with glioblastoma is only about 14.6 months and less than 10% of patients are expected to survive for 5 years or longer. There is growing excitement over use of the body’s own immune system (so-called cancer immunotherapy) to target glioblastoma.

In this proposal, Dr.Rezvani’s team seeks to improve the outcome of glioblastoma by using the power of the immune system (T lymphocytes) to target cytomegalovirus (CMV), a virus commonly found in glioblastoma cancer cells, but not normal brain tissue. They can now manufacture T cells against CMV in their laboratory to sufficient numbers and quality for use in cancer patients, placing them in an ideal position to begin clinical trials of this immunotherapy in patients with advanced glioblastoma. They are also testing methods that could enhance the ability of infused CMV-specific T cells to kill glioblastoma cells, by genetically modifying them to become resistant to the immunosuppressive effect of the tumor. If successful, these studies could lead to the use of CMV-specific T cells in all patients with glioblastoma.