Scientists at the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with the St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute in Vienna, have developed a novel stem cell model that replicates the origins of early neuroblastoma cancer-like cells, providing insight into the genetic pathway of the disease. Their findings are published in Nature Communications…

Researchers from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have discovered that the signaling molecule chemokine-like factor (CKLF) plays a key role in promoting immunosuppression and tumor aggression in neuroblastoma and potentially in other tumors with abnormal activation of the MYCN oncoprotein. “The MYCN oncoprotein drives the initiation, progression,…

A new, more effective, treatment may have been found for neuroblastoma, which is one of the most common cancers of childhood. Using single-cell sequencing, researchers at the Princess Máxima created a detailed atlas of neuroblastoma tumors at both the individual tumor and immune cell level. Using this atlas, the team…

Research led by Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Cancer Center shows hopeful results in a first-in-human phase I clinical trial using genetically engineered natural killer T cell (NKT) immunotherapy to treat neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants, arising from immature nerve cells and predominantly affecting…

An international team of clinical researchers led by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, and the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium, has released data from a Phase I study showing that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) lorlatinib is a safe and effective treatment…

Almost half of children with high-risk neuroblastoma harbor extra copies of the gene MYCN (MYCN amplified), the primary driver of neuroblastoma and its resistance to therapy. However, no available therapies directly target MYCN. In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine delved into understanding metabolic vulnerabilities of…

A retrospective study led by University of Chicago researchers has shown that “bridge” therapy between induction and consolidation treatments benefits high-risk neuroblastoma patients who respond poorly to induction. “There are approximately 700–800 cases of neuroblastoma each year and about half of these cases will be high-risk,” first author Ami Desai,…

A new immunotherapy using modified cells targeting two different antigens was highly effective in a mouse model of human neuroblastoma, according to a study led by researchers from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UNC School of Medicine. The new treatment restricted tumor regrowth and also prevented the…

Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge have discovered that that genomic changes following platinum chemotherapy for neuroblastoma can cause secondary blood cancers like leukemias in treated children. The researchers, whose study was published in the journal Blood, hope this discovery may lead to treatment changes…

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), and the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, have unveiled new research indicating that all neuroblastomas arise from a single type of embryonic cell, known as sympathoblasts, which could point to new therapeutic options. The discovery that all neuroblastomas…

Researchers in Japan have developed a new method to monitor children at risk of neuroblastoma recurrence after treatment. This new method utilizes droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to monitor residual disease in high risk patients, a methodology that could be utilized to evaluate treatment response and facilitate early diagnosis of tumor…

An international research team has discovered that the jumonji domain-containing 6 (JMJD6) gene plays a critical role in neuroblastoma tumorigenesis. In addition, in work that opens up a potential new target for the treatment of neuroblastoma, they showed that when JMJD6’s expression was reduced, neuroblastoma cell proliferation and survival in…

When it comes to studying and treating cancer, scientists and clinicians often think of applying two key areas of knowledge: the immune system and genomics. The combination of those fields—immunogenomics—is not quite a new field, but it is on the rise. Even in 2015, Robert Holt, PhD, scientific co-director of…

Offering clinical whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to every child with suspected cancer changes the treatment plan in around one in 14 patients, suggests an analysis of data from two English hospitals where the test is routinely offered. Senior author, professor Sam Behjati, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge University Hospitals, and…

Research led by the Francis Crick Institute in London could help treat people with a rare skin condition called congenital melanocytic nevus syndrome using RNA silencing treatment. Congenital melanocytic nevus syndrome is a mosaic genetic condition that results in around one percent of children being born with very large moles…