Experimental Antibody Shows Early Promise for Treatment of Advanced Neuroblastoma

In a study at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, an experimental antibody showed early promise for treatment of advanced neuroblastoma. Tumors shrank or disappeared, and disease progression was temporarily halted in 15 children in a Phase I study of an immune therapy manufactured at the hospital. Four patients are still alive after more than two-and-a-half years and without additional treatment. With initial findings recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the results prompted St. Jude to expand clinical trials of the monoclonal antibody hu14.18K322A to include patients newly diagnosed with neuroblastoma. “This was the first time this experimental antibody was tried in patients. We were encouraged with the response,” said first author Fariba Navid, MD, an associate member of the St. Jude department of oncology. “The percentage of patients who benefited from treatment with hu14.18K322A was unusual for a Phase I study.” To learn more about the study, click here.