Find a Clinical Trial Find out about new research studies 
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Relying, in part, on the information that is emerging about the genetic basis of leukemia, Memorial Sloan-Kettering investigators are pursuing a variety of strategies to control the disease -- approaches that can kill tumor cells directly or inhibit the body's production of substances that promote their growth.
These investigational approaches are sometimes offered to eligible patients through the clinical trial process. Some of these research efforts are highlighted below. For up-to-date details about current clinical trials at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, please visit our clinical trial database.
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Refinements in Combination Chemotherapy
Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing and to cause them to die. Physicians usually combine two or more agents in a course of treatment in an effort to kill as many tumor cells as possible. It is not yet known which regimen of combination chemotherapy is most effective for ALL, so clinical trials are under way to compare the effectiveness of various combinations of chemotherapeutic agents.
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New Approaches to Transplantation
Investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering are studying ways to improve the outcome of bone marrow and stem cell transplants for leukemia patients who undergo these procedures. Sometimes, following a transplant, immune system cells transplanted from a donor perceive the recipient's body as foreign and attack his or her tissue. This serious condition is called graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Researchers here are infusing patients whose disease has recurred after transplantation with gradually increasing amounts of T cells from the original donor. This approach takes advantage of the ability of donor immune cells to recognize and attack diseased cells in certain forms of leukemia. The low number of infused cells should attack the leukemia cells without causing significant GvHD. Transplants work best when they come from a genetically matched donor, but such donors are not always available. Researchers are evaluating the success of transplantation using high doses of stem cells from a related donor whose genetic type is at least half-matched with the patient. To minimize GvHD, researchers are testing the effectiveness of removing the T cells prior to transplantation.
