Scientists are working to bring about a new treatment for neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that develops in very early forms of nerve cells in the embryo or fetus, and it accounts for the most pediatric deaths for any tumor outside of the brain.
The most lethal form of this tumor is often associated with amplification of the gene MYCN, and now scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Philips Institute for Oral Health Research may have developed a combination therapy that uses this gene to kill the cancer, instead of making it grow.
“The positive preclinical activity and safety profile of this targeted therapy combination will hopefully set the stage for clinical trials in a subset of neuroblastoma patients who urgently need new, more effective therapies,” says Faber, assistant professor at the Philips Institute for Oral Health Research at the VCU School of Dentistry and a member of the Developmental Therapeutics research program at VCU Massey Cancer Center.
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