Ganglioneuroblastoma

This phase III trial tests how well the addition of dinutuximab to Induction chemotherapy along with standard of care surgical resection of the primary tumor, radiation, stem cell transplantation, and immunotherapy works for treating children with newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma. Dinutuximab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to a molecule called GD2, which is found on the surface of neuroblastoma cells, but is not present on many healthy or normal cells in the body. When dinutuximab binds to the neuroblastoma cells, it helps signal the immune system to kill the tumor cells. This helps the cells of the immune system kill the cancer cells, this is a type of immunotherapy. When chemotherapy and immunotherapy are given together, during the same treatment cycle, it is called chemoimmunotherapy. This clinical trial randomly assigns patients to receive either standard chemotherapy and surgery or chemoimmunotherapy (chemotherapy plus dinutuximab) and surgery during Induction therapy. Chemotherapy drugs administered during Induction include, cyclophosphamide, topotecan, cisplatin, etoposide, vincristine, and doxorubicin. These drugs work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing or by stopping them from spreading. Upon completion of 5 cycles of Induction therapy, a disease evaluation is completed to determine how well the treatment worked. If the tumor responds to therapy, patients receive a tandem transplantation with stem cell rescue. If the tumor has little improvement or worsens, patients receive chemoimmunotherapy on Extended Induction. During Extended Induction, dinutuximab is given with irinotecan, temozolomide. Patients with a good response to therapy move on to Consolidation therapy, when very high doses of chemotherapy are given at two separate points to kill any remaining cancer cells. Following, transplant, radiation therapy is given to the site where the cancer originated (primary site) and to any other areas that are still active at the end of Induction. The final stage of therapy is Post-Consolidation. During Post-Consolidation, dinutuximab is given with isotretinoin, with the goal of maintaining the response achieved with the previous therapy. Adding dinutuximab to Induction chemotherapy along with standard of care surgical resection of the primary tumor, radiation, stem cell transplantation, and immunotherapy may be better at treating children with newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma.

The SIOPEN BIOPORTAL is a prospective non-therapeutic multi-centre international study aimed at developing an international Registry linked to a Virtual Biobank for all the patients with peripheral neuroblastic tumor within countries of the SIOPEN network. The overall aim of this study is to provide a GDPR-compliant framework to collect basic clinical annotations, biological and genetic features and information about the location on biospecimens for all the patients with a peripheral neuroblastic tumor including neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma in the SIOPEN network.
This study will support data and sample management and intensify cross-borders data and sample sharing fostering translational and clinical research. The post-hoc hypothesis formulated based on the data generated in this study will be used as statistical basis for future precision medicine programs based on improved biological characterization, patient stratification and therapeutic management.

Surgery plays significant role in treatment of neurogenic tumors, both for benign ganglioneuroma and for high risk neuroblastoma. The world literature has accumulated large experience in laparoscopic surgery for abdominal neuroblastoma. The presence of IDRF (image-defined risk factors) and tumor size (>4-7 cm) are considered as common contraindications for minimally invasive surgery in neuroblastoma. However, the recent studies have shown that presence of IDRF is not an absolute contraindication for laparoscopic surgery. This open-label, nonrandomized, observational, phase III evaluates role and weight of different surgical risk factors (including IDRF, tumor size, tumor localization, tumor volume/patient height ratio, previous open surgical procedures, previous chemotherapy etc.) in the laparoscopic neuroblastoma resections. The aim of this study is to create novel risk factors scoring system for laparoscopic surgery in abdominal neuroblastoma.