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Immunology Specimen Collection for Cancer and Blood Disorders

This research study is collecting blood, tissue, and bone marrow samples from people with cancer or blood disorders, as well as healthy volunteers. The goal is to better understand how the immune system works, especially in response to treatments like immunotherapy (which uses your body's own immune system to fight disease) and checkpoint inhibitors (a type of immunotherapy). Researchers will study these samples to identify changes in immune system parameters and compare them between different treatment groups and healthy individuals. This will help them learn more about how these treatments affect the immune system and how to improve them. You can join if you are 19 years or older and have cancer, an immune-mediated blood disorder (like aplastic anemia or ITP), or are a healthy volunteer.

Study design
This is an observational study planning to enroll 625 participants. It is not testing a specific drug but rather collecting samples for research.
What's involved
You would undergo collection of peripheral blood, bone marrow, and tissue samples. You would also complete questionnaires.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Samples will be collected for immunology studies from baseline up to 5 years.

AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.

NCT03207854

Collection of Immunology Specimens From Patients With Cancer or Blood Disorders, and Healthy Volunteers

Recruiting
Not specifiedAges 19+Observational
University of Southern California
~625 participants
Updated 2026-04-02 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Biospecimen CollectionLaboratory Biomarker AnalysisQuestionnaire Administration

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Sample collection for immunology studies from patients with cancer or blood disorders, and healthy volunteers
Measured over Baseline to 5 years

Conditions

Healthy Subject
Hematologic and Lymphocytic Disorder
Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Cell Neoplasm
Immune System Disorder
Malignant Neoplasm

Explore related trials

Healthy VolunteerHematopoietic and Lymphoid Cell DisorderImmune System DisorderMalignant Neoplasm

Where it's being run

1 sites across 1 states
California1

Study leadership

  • Casey O'Connell, MD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · University of Southern California

Who to contact

Arta Zenunovic
[email protected]
323-442 7828
Email the study team

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Do you actually qualify for this trial?

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

All patients known to have cancer, an immune-mediated hematologic diagnosis, or a healthy normal volunteer
Definition of immune-mediated hematologic diagnosis: diagnoses for which immune dysfunction and/or immune system directed therapy (eg. aplastic anemia, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenic purpura \[ITP\], etc.) are involved
Definition of healthy normal volunteer: persons lacking diagnoses of any type of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, non-hematologic autoimmune disease (eg. systemic lupus erythematosus \[SLE\], rheumatoid arthritis \[RA\], Crohn's disease) and not taking any immunosuppressive medications
Patients must have been seen in the Norris Hospital and outpatient clinics, or the Los Angeles County (LAC)-University of Southern California (USC) Medical Center or outpatient clinics; healthy volunteers can be recruited without any physician visit appointments since their labs are strictly for clinical research and not for personal health issues unrelated to the project

Exclusion

Unable to give informed consent to specimen collection
Known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive status
Persons taking any type of immunosuppressive medication are excluded from participating as healthy normal volunteers
Any patient for whom specimen collection is judged to be unsafe (for example, for patients unable to establish venous access)

What this trial measures

  • Sample collection for immunology studies from patients with cancer or blood disorders, and healthy volunteersBaseline to 5 years

    Tissue, blood, and bone marrow samples collected will be used to identify changes in immune system parameters in patients receiving immunotherapies (including immune checkpoint inhibitors, immunostimulatory/immunomodulatory agents, cellular therapies, stem cell transplantation) and compare to changes in patients receiving conventional chemotherapy, targeted-agent therapy, and healthy normal volunteers using multiparameter flow cytometry, time-of-flight mass cytometry, cytokine quantification, functional analysis of immune cell subsets isolated via fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), and genetic and proteomic techniques (deoxyribonucleic acid \[DNA\] sequencing, ribonucleic acid \[RNA\]-sequence \[Seq\], reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction \[RT-PCR\], Western blot).