Al's Comment:
Nimotuzumab is an antibody againt EGFR created in Cuba. It is approved in most of the world, but I think it is not yet approved in the USA. EGFR is a good target - it is only found in about half of the brain tumors, but it is the worst half. According to wikipedia, it is also being used for recurrent or refractory high grade malignant glioma, anaplastic astrocytomas, glioblastomas and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
This was not a controlled trial so we do not know how kids with similiar tumors would have done on other treatments, but it is worth watching.
Posted on: 04/12/2013
MAbs. 2013 Mar 1;5(2):202-7. doi: 10.4161/mabs.22970.
Treatment of children with high grade glioma with nimotuzumab: A 5-y institutional experience.
Cabanas R, Saurez G, Rios M, Alert J, Reyes A, Valdes J, Gonzalez MC, Pedrayes JL, Avila M, Herrera R, Infante M, Echevarria E, Moreno M, Luaces PL, Ramos TC.
Oncohematology; Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital; Havana, Cuba.
Abstract
Brain tumors are a major cause of cancer-related mortality in children. Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is detected in pediatric brain tumors and receptor density appears to increase with tumor grading. Nimotuzumab is an IgG1 antibody that targets EGFR. Twenty-three children with high-grade glioma (HGG) were enrolled in an expanded access program in which nimotuzumab was administered alone or with radio-chemotherapy. The mean number of doses was 39. Nimotuzumab was well-tolerated and treatment with the antibody yielded a survival benefit: median survival time was 32.66 mo and the 2-y survival rate was 54.2%. This study demonstrated the feasibility of prolonged administration of nimotuzumab and showed preliminary evidence of clinical benefit in HGG patients with poor prognosis.
PMID: 23575267 [PubMed - in process]
Click HERE to return to brain tumor news headlines.
