Doctors at the UK Cancer Research Center are launching a trial phase to observe the effects of a new form of molecular radiation therapy never before tested in children. The researchers hope to find a way to treat the neuroblastoma, tumors of the sympathetic nervous system that affect around 1,800 children, or one in 600, each year in France. This disease, usually diagnosed in children under the age of five, remains the second leading cause of death in children over one year of age after accidents.
The new treatment will be tested on 24 patients aged 18 months to 19 years at University College Hospital in London. It will be given directly to the tumor a maximum of four times over a period of eight weeks. This form of radiation therapy is effective in adults with other types of cancer, but this is the first time that its effects will be analyzed in the children suffering from a neurobalstoma.
“For too long, there has been too little progress made for the patients I see every week. We have real hope that this method of radiation therapy will be particularly effective and that it may offer a new opportunity to care for these children.” , says Dr. Mark Gaz, main author of the study in question, cited by the site Medical Xpress. Metastatic neuroblastomas are currently only cured in about 30% of cases, this treatment is a real hope for sick children and their families.
