BACKGROUND Preclinical and preliminary clinical data indicate that ch14.18, a monoclonal antibody against the tumor-associated disialoganglioside GD2, has activity against neuroblastoma and that such activity is enhanced when ch14.18 is combined with granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or interleukin-2. We conducted a study to determine whether adding ch14.18, GM-CSF, and interleukin-2 to standard isotretinoin therapy after intensive multimodal therapy would improve outcomes in high-risk neuroblastoma. METHODS Patients with high-risk neuroblastoma who had a response to induction therapy and stem-cell transplantation were randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to receive standard therapy (six cycles of isotretinoin) or immunotherapy (six cycles of isotretinoin and five concomitant cycles of ch14.18 in combination with alternating GM-CSF and interleukin-2). Event-free survival and overall survival were compared between the immunotherapy group and the standard-therapy group, on an intention-to-treat basis. RESULTS A total of 226 eligible patients were randomly assigned to a treatment group. In the immunotherapy group, a total of 52% of patients had pain of grade 3, 4, or 5, and 23% and 25% of patients had capillary leak syndrome and hypersensitivity reactions, respectively. With 61% of the number of expected events observed, the study met the criteria for early stopping owing to efficacy. The median duration of follow-up was 2.1 years. Immunotherapy was superior to standard therapy with regard to rates of event-free survival (66±5% vs. 46±5% at 2 years, P = 0.01) and overall survival (86±4% vs. 75±5% at 2 years, P = 0.02 without adjustment for interim analyses). CONCLUSIONS Immunotherapy with ch14.18, GM-CSF, and interleukin-2 was associated with a significantly improved outcome as compared with standard therapy in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.
To determine whether temozolomide is an active agent in the treatment of children with high-grade astrocytomas and whether survival is influenced by the expression of the O6-methylguanine-methyltransferase gene (MGMT) in these patients. In the Children's Oncology Group study ACNS0126, 107 patients with a diagnosis of anaplastic astrocytoma (AA), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), or gliosarcoma were enrolled. All patients underwent concomitant chemoradiotherapy with temozolomide, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide. The outcomes were compared with those of children treated in Children's Cancer Group (CCG) study CCG-945. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue was available in 71 cases for immunohistochemical analysis of MGMT expression. Ninety patients were deemed eligible, 31 with AA, 55 with GBM, and 4 with other eligible diagnoses. The 3-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 11 ± 3% and 22 ± 5%, respectively. There was no evidence that temozolomide given during radiation therapy and as adjuvant therapy resulted in improved EFS compared with that found in CCG-945 (p = 0.98). The 3-year EFS rate for AA was 13 ± 6% in ACNS0126 compared with 22 ± 5.5% in CCG-945 (p = 0.95). The 3-year EFS rate for GBM was 7 ± 4% in ACNS0126 compared with 15 ± 5% in CCG-945 (p = 0.77). The 2-year EFS rate was 17 ± 5% among patients without MGMT overexpression and 5 ± 4% among those with MGMT overexpression (p = 0.045). Temozolomide failed to improve outcome in children with high-grade astrocytomas. MGMT overexpression was adversely associated with survival.
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