The Role of Immunotherapy in Treating High-Risk Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma originates from the cells in the neural crest. High-risk neuroblastoma, patients have poor outcomes even with the multi-step treatment plans, including immunotherapy maintenance treatment. Researchers in developmental biology search for unique antigens in neuroblastoma cells to utilize monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Currently, GD2 is the most effective antigen that scientists have isolated in the tumor; these anti-GD2 mAbs are administered in the forms of Dinutuximab or Dinutuximab beta to attack the tumor. Monoclonal antibodies are currently administered in neuroblastoma instead of CAR T (that has seen success in curing different types of leukemias) due to the heterogeneity of this tumor. Although GD2 treatment has made significant strides in outcomes, there is still a high rate of relapse and treatment failure. Scientists continue to pursue further developments to help cure high risk neuroblastoma through better technology and more research. Introduction: Neuroblastoma accounts for 15% of all pediatric oncologic deaths and is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children (Kholodenko et. al., 2018). Through understanding the tumor’s origin and developmental biology, researchers have zeroed in on unique markers to utilize natural killers (NK) in targeting and eliminating the cancer. In the high-risk phase, neuroblastoma is deadly and has a high rate of relapse. Despite improvements in outcome, rates of recurrent neuroblastoma are high; in about 50% of cases treatments fail (Jabbari,2019). Currently, the final part of the treatment plan is a monoclonal antibody immunotherapy that targets the GD2 antigens on the cancer cells