3901 Beaubien Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48201
01/06/2011

Neuroblastoma is the most common extra cranial solid tumor in children. High-risk neuroblastoma is distinctively aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy, with treatment results remaining unsatisfactory for the past 25 years in spite of using the most aggressive therapies. At least 50% of all neuroblastoma cases belong to this category. All neuroblastoma cells have glycoprotein called GD2 on their surface.

A recent Children’s Oncology Group study demonstrated that the addition of immunotherapy with anti-GD2 monoclonal antibodies significantly improved the survival of children with high-risk neuroblastoma. Our goal is to develop a new approach for targeting GD2-positive neuroblastomas by using autologous (the patient’s own cells) killer T cells “armed” with anti-GD2 antibodies. This approach can also be applied to another aggressive and hard to treat pediatric cancer, osteosarcoma, which is positive for GD2 in most of the cases.

This project is based on our preliminary in vitro data, where we demonstrated that T cells directed against GD2-positive tumors effectively and specifically killed neuroblastoma and osteosarcoma cell lines. For the current proposal, we plan to extend our research to a phase I clinical study where we will treat 6 children with high-risk neuroblastoma or osteosarcoma with anti-GD2 directed cytotoxic T cells.