Bridge Therapy Between Induction, ASCT May Slow Neuroblastoma

(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.

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“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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