Neuroblastoma Treatment - Immunotherapy Found To Significantly Improve Survival Rates

The results of a recent study indicate that a new form of treatment known as immunotherapy, which involves the use of biologic agents that stimulate the body’s immune system, was found to be effective in the treatment of neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the peripheral nervous system that usually appears in the form of a solid tumor in the chest or abdomen area, and accounts for approximately 7 percent of all childhood cancers. The use of immunotherapy in the treatment of neuroblastoma, which usually occurs in an aggressive form, has enabled pediatric oncologists to achieve an improvement of around 20% in the survival rates of neuroblastoma, compared to the conventional methods of therapy used in the treatment of aggressive forms of neuroblastoma.

“We expect these findings will change clinical practice, setting a new gold standard of treatment for this often-deadly disease,” said John M. Maris, M.D., the Co-Author of this study, who added, “We will continue to investigate treatments to further refine the standard of care.” Maris also serves as the Director of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is the Chair of the Neuroblastoma Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), which sponsored the study into the efficacy of immunotherapy in the treatment of neuroblastoma.