Neuroblastoma Immunotherapy Trial

Scientists in the UK are studying immunotherapy as a possible weapon in the fight against the childhood cancer, neuroblastoma. The cancer, which affects the nervous system and is most commonly found in children less than five years of age, currently accounts for approximately 17 percent of cancer deaths in children.

The disease is caused by the development of cancerous cells in neural crest nerve cells, which play a key role in the development of the nervous system. This leads to the growth of tumors in nerve tissues in areas such as the adrenal glands, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis.

Neuroblastoma Treatments

Currently the cancer is treated through a variety of means including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and stem cell replacement with six in ten patients experiencing a successful outcome from these traditional methods of treatment. However, a recent study in the US appears to indicate that immunotherapy may improve a patient's long-term chances of outwitting the disease.

Immunotherapy for Neuroblastoma

The study, led by Dr Alice Yu, a professor of pediatric hematology and oncology at the University Of California San Diego School Of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, examined the effects of immunotherapy on the relapse rate of neuroblastoma patients.

Immunotherapy involves boosting the body’s immune system by introducing agents that attach themselves to neuroblastoma cells that may have survived previous treatments. The agents operate as antibody markers for the patient’s own immune system, encouraging it to attack and destroy the lingering cancer cells, thus reducing the risk of relapse.

After two years, 66 percent of the surviving study patients receiving the immunotherapy were deemed free of cancer as compared with 46 percent of those who did not receive the treatment. As a result, all of the patients involved in the trial were started on a course of immunotherapy alongside the standard treatment. Dr. Yu noted, “This is the first time in many years that we have been able to improve the 'cure rate' for neuroblastoma patients. This new therapy can help us improve care and perhaps offer new hope to many patients and families."

UK Immunotherapy Trial for Neuroblastoma Patients

The encouraging result has paved the way for further investigation of the effects of immunotherapy on neuroblastoma patients, with Cancer Research UK now funding a four year trial involving 160 young patients in the UK.

The UK trial is to be led by Dr. Penelope Brock, consultant pediatric oncologist at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Dr. Brock stated, “The launch of this trial in the UK is really fantastic news for our patients. Early results from the US trial found that children who received the immunotherapy treatment had less chance of the disease coming back two years later, compared with the patients who did not receive the immunotherapy. We need to build on these results and devise better immunotherapy approaches that improve survival further. We have worked very closely with the doctors involved in the US trial to design the European study and we very much hope that it will lead to another treatment option for children with high risk neuroblastoma, who have more chance of the disease coming back.”

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