Dr. Bosse on the Treatment of Neuroblastoma in Pediatric Patients

Kristopher Bosse, MD, attending physician, Division of Oncology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, discusses the treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.

The standard therapy for pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma is approximately 1 to 2 years of chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and transplant. In the last few years, immunotherapy has entered the treatment landscape with the approval of dinutuximab (Unituxin) in combination with interleukin-2, GM-CSF, and isotretinoin as a frontline therapy for pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma who responded to prior induction therapy.

Bosse says that there is still work to do, as patients must deal with a very long, complicated, and painful treatment regimen. Only about half of pediatric patients with neuroblastoma are cured on the currently available treatments, and most live the rest of their lives dealing with the side effects from their therapy.