Bridge Therapy Between Induction, ASCT May Slow Neuroblastoma

MONDAY, June 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For patients with high-risk neuroblastoma with end-induction stable metastatic disease, postinduction bridge therapy before autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is associated with better outcomes, according to a study published online June 6 in Cancer.

Ami V. Desai, M.D., from the University of Chicago, and colleagues stratified neuroblastoma patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2018 without progressive disease with a partial response or worse at end-induction according to postinduction treatment: no additional therapy before ASCT, postinduction bridge therapy before ASCT, and postinduction therapy without ASCT (cohorts 1, 2, and 3 [123, 51, and 27 patients], respectively).

The researchers found that compared with cohorts 2 and 3, cohort 1 had better end-induction response, but the outcomes for cohorts 1 and 2 did not differ significantly. Cohort 3 had inferior outcomes. Three-year event-free survival was significantly improved for cohort 2 versus cohort 1 among patients with end-induction stable metastatic disease. Significantly better three-year event-free survival was seen for cohort 3 patients with a complete response at metastatic sites after postinduction therapy compared with those with residual metastatic disease.

“Response to induction therapy is known to be prognostic of survival, and our study suggests that bridge therapy prior to consolidation therapy benefits patients with high-risk neuroblastoma with a poor response to induction,” Desai said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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