Under the Microscope

Dr. David Freyer from Children's Hospital of Los Angeles is the study chair for the new COG study "Sodium Thiosulfate in Preventing Hearing Loss in Young Patients Receiving Cisplatin for Newly Diagnosed Germ Cell Tumor, Hepatoblastoma, Medulloblastoma...

One of the most interesting revelations of the 2008 ANR in Chiba, Japan from a parent of a child with neuroblastoma was the realization that the rules are always changing. I can not tell you how many times something I had previously accepted as fact was now coming into question. In the neuroblastoma research world the old adage "the more you learn the less you know" is more fact than fiction. Throughout the conference there were several examples of this type of revelation coming to fruition. None was more interesting than an abstract and presentation by Thorsten Simon from Children's Hospital, University of Cologne, Germany. ...

As many parents know, the Advances in Neuroblastoma Research (ANR) Congress was held in Chiba, Japan during May 21-24, 2008. This was the first time it has been held in Asia. The ANR is held every two years in a new location throughout the world. In 2010 in will be held in Sweden. The ANR is an opportunity for neuroblastoma researchers and clinicians to meet, discuss and share the most current research in the world of neuroblastoma. During the 2008 ANR over 390 neuroblastoma research abstracts were submitted. All of them were reviewed and scored by at least 7 authorities. The event was attended by almost 500 researchers and clinicians from over 35 countries. The ANR is, by far, the world's largest neuroblastoma specific research conference and usually attracts all of the world's leading neuroblastoma researchers....

On March 18,2008 Dr. Heidi Russell spent a little over an hour speaking with families about neuroblastoma bone and bone marrow metastases. Dr. Russell is a leader among the neuroblastoma research community. One of her interests is in understanding how and why neuroblastoma commonly metastasizes to the bone. Over the last several years, our understanding of the mechanism of bone metastasis in neuroblastoma has significantly improved. Like *** cancer and myeloma, neuroblastoma cells activate osteoclasts to form osteolytic lesions. Several targets for therapeutic intervention can now be identified. Inhibition of osteoclast activation by bisphosphonates has already shown to be effective in preclinical models of neuroblastoma bone metastasis and is now be tested in phase I clinical studies. Dr. Heidi Russell has been a pioneer in this area of research in neuroblastoma. During this presentation she provides a review of our current understanding of the mechanisms involved in bone metastasis in neuroblastoma and discusses how this knowledge is leading to the identification of new targets for treatment. This presentation is targeted towards parents of children with neuroblastoma and those with an interest in understanding how neuroblastoma metastasizes to bone....

An interesting article was recently published in the January 15, 2008 edition of Clinical Cancer Research. The article, “Sodium Thiosulfate Administered Six Hours after Cisplatin Does Not Compromise Antineuroblastoma Activity”, points to new discoveries about a drug which could potentially protect our children's hearing from the devastating effects of therapy. ...