September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Broward Health is helping to investigate an immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatment that could help prevent recurrence and chronic complications in some children with leukemia.
The Children’s Oncology Group opened a multicenter, international, Phase 3 clinical trial investigating the use of blinatumomab, a type of immunotherapy, in combination with chemotherapy for children with newly diagnosed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in 2019.
Broward Health was one of hundreds of centers to enroll patients in the study, offering the trial to both inpatients and outpatients. An estimated 6,720 patients were enrolled across all participating sites.
“The goal of this trial is to see whether adding blinatumomab to the usual chemotherapy can further reduce relapses in children with standard-risk B-ALL,” said Hector Rodriguez-Cortes, M.D., medical director of pediatric hematology/ oncology and principal investigator of pediatric cancer research at Broward Health. “The hope is to improve long-term survival without dramatically increasing side effects by lowering the chance of leukemia returning.”
Potentially Transformative Treatment
The risk-stratified trial separates patients into chemotherapy only and chemotherapy plus blinatumomab groups based on individual leukemia genetics and initial treatment response. The study is ongoing and expected to be completed in 2027.
“An interim analysis examined how well children did on standard chemotherapy alone versus with blinatumomab,” Dr. Rodriguez-Cortes said. “That analysis showed significantly better disease-free survival, or fewer relapses, for those receiving the chemotherapy and blinatumomab. Because of this clear benefit, the study’s leadership decided to stop the random trial early and offer the combination to all children.”
Now closed to new participants but continuing to collect and analyze data, the trial may point toward a new standard of care in which immunotherapy becomes part of routine treatment for children with standard-risk B-ALL, according to Dr. Rodriguez-Cortes. Incorporating immunotherapy could help protect patients against cancer relapses and persistent complications.
“Participating in this trial puts Broward Health on the front lines of improving treatment for childhood leukemia,” Dr. Rodriguez-Cortes said. “Local families can access cutting-edge therapies close to home.”
