The Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) Child Cancer and Blood Disorders Group has taken part in two studies that will be presented on Monday 6 June at the annual congress of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The two studies are part of the BEACON project, which aims to characterise and find new biomarkers and treatments for neuroblastoma, one of the most common and aggressive paediatric tumours.

New biomarkers for the prognosis and response to treatment of neuroblastoma

First of all, Dr Lucas Moreno, head of the Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Department at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and head of the VHIR Child Cancer and Blood Disorders Group, will present the poster “Predicting outcomes with circulating adrenergic neuroblastoma mRNAs in children with relapsed and refractory neuroblastoma: A BEACON-Neuroblastoma biomarker study”. This study identified blood levels of PHOX2B mRNA and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) as biomarkers for predicting the aggressiveness and response to treatment of relapse or refractory neuroblastomas.

The study shows that higher levels of PHOX2B mRNA and TH are related to worse results after treatment, and a lower survival rate. “Stratifying patients helps adapt treatment to them, increasing the intensity of therapy in cases that need it,” Dr Moreno explains.

Immunotherapy for the treatment of neuroblastoma

Dr Lucas Moreno also took part in the study “BEACON-Immuno: Results of the dinutuximab beta (dB) randomization of the BEACON-Neuroblastoma phase 2 trial”, presented at the ASCO congress by Dr Juliet Gray, of Southampton University. This study shows the effectiveness of treatment with dinutuximab beta (anti-GD2), a monoclonal antibody, for neuroblastoma.

A total of 65 patients took part in this phase II clinical trial, divided into two groups: a treatment with chemotherapy and a treatment with chemotherapy and immunotherapy with anti-GD2 at the same time. It found that the group treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy had a higher response rate in terms of reducing the tumour and survival. The response rate was 18% in the patients with chemotherapy and 35% in the patients with chemotherapy and immunotherapy.