New Treatment Protocol for Childhood Cancer Shows Promising Results
A new treatment protocol for the most common form of childhood cancer has “instantly” changed how doctors treat pediatric leukemia — and provided a first-in-decades boost for the long-term survival and health of young patients.
Improved Cure Rate and Reduced Toxicity
“This happens once in several generations,” said Dr. Lia Gore of Children’s Hospital Colorado. Gore co-authored a paper published earlier this month describing the effects of the treatment.
“We’ve now moved this outcome so that the vast majority of children with this type of leukemia will have a 96% cure rate,” she said.
How the Treatment Works
The breakthrough, described in a New England Journal of Medicine paper and presented at a conference in mid-December, is called blinatumomab, an immunotherapy drug delivered to patients over a 28-day IV drip. (Gore said one of her patients surfed sand dunes while wearing a backpack holding their medicine.)
The treatment teaches the immune system to recognize and destroy leukemia cells, which are otherwise invisible to the body’s disease-fighting T-cells. Its success not only improves survivor rates but also cuts down on the need for toxic treatments like chemotherapy, which can have life-altering impacts for the growing share of patients who beat the disease.
Study Results and Impact
For more than a decade, researchers, co-led by Gore’s team at Children’s, had studied the impact of the medication on B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer. It afflicts roughly 5,000 American kids each year, Gore said. Over the summer, an oversight committee then began analyzing the latest study’s early data. That set examined blinatumomab’s impact on children between the ages of 1 and 10 who were newly combating the disease.
The data analyzed by the committee showed that patients who received the new treatment fared so much better than their peers that researchers determined it would be unethical to continue withholding the medication from any of the study’s subjects.
Conclusion
The findings of this study are a significant advancement in the field of pediatric leukemia treatment. The use of blinatumomab has the potential to improve the long-term survival and health of young patients, while also reducing the need for toxic treatments like chemotherapy. This breakthrough is a testament to the power of immunotherapy and the importance of continued research in the field of pediatric cancer treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is blinatumomab?
A: Blinatumomab is an immunotherapy drug that teaches the immune system to recognize and destroy leukemia cells.
Q: How does blinatumomab work?
A: Blinatumomab is delivered to patients over a 28-day IV drip and teaches the immune system to recognize and destroy leukemia cells, which are otherwise invisible to the body’s disease-fighting T-cells.
Q: What are the benefits of using blinatumomab?
A: The use of blinatumomab has the potential to improve the long-term survival and health of young patients, while also reducing the need for toxic treatments like chemotherapy.
Q: Is blinatumomab a new treatment for pediatric leukemia?
A: Yes, blinatumomab is a new treatment for pediatric leukemia that has been shown to be effective in improving the long-term survival and health of young patients.
Q: What is the cure rate for pediatric leukemia with blinatumomab?
A: The cure rate for pediatric leukemia with blinatumomab is 96%, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
