St. Baldrick’s Foundation Research Outcomes blogs highlight examples of the progress your donations are supporting. This quarterly edition focuses on research making immunotherapy stronger, predicting outcomes for high-risk neuroblastoma patients, effective drug clearance during treatment for kids with leukemia, and reduced long-term follow-up for rhabdomyosarcoma survivors.
Thank you for making the research a reality.
Fighting Cancer with a Sugar Boost
T cells are immune cells that help fight cancer, but they need a lot of energy, which they usually get from glucose (a type of sugar). In cancerous environments, there’s often not enough glucose available for T cells, which limits their ability to work effectively.
In this study from the St. Baldrick’s EPICC team, scientists tried to make CAR-T cells (a type of engineered T cell used to fight cancer) more powerful by increasing the levels of a protein called GLUT1, which helps cells take in more glucose. They found that CAR-T cells with extra GLUT1 used more glucose and had more energy, which helped them work better. These modified cells stayed stronger for longer, were less likely to get “tired,” and could kill cancer cells more effectively. In models these enhanced CAR-T cells controlled cancer growth better than regular CAR-T cells. This research suggests that helping CAR-T cells get more glucose could improve their ability to fight cancer.
How Initial Chemotherapy Predicts Outcomes in High-risk Neuroblastoma
In patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, how they respond to their first round of chemotherapy can help doctors predict their chances of recovery. In a recent study from the Children’s Oncology Group, scientists looked at more than 1,200 patients and divided them based on their response to chemotherapy. They found that certain factors, like where the tumor started and specific genetic changes, were linked to worse outcomes in patients who didn’t respond well to treatment. For patients who did respond well, fewer of these factors affected their survival.
Overall, the study suggests that a patient’s early response to chemotherapy can affect how other factors impact their outlook. This information could help doctors give a more personalized prognosis and decide who might benefit from different treatments after the first round of chemotherapy.
Constipation and Drug Clearance in Leukemia Treatment
Some kids with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) get treated with high doses of a chemotherapy drug called methotrexate and it’s important for their bodies to get rid of the drug quickly. Methotrexate is mainly cleared through the kidneys, but it is also removed by the digestive system to a lesser extent. Failure to get rid of methotrexate can result in significant toxicity. Unfortunately, kids with ALL often experience constipation, and this may slow down the body’s ability to get rid of methotrexate, leading to more methotrexate-related side effects.
A study supported in part by St. Baldrick’s, looked at kids with ALL who needed high doses of methotrexate and checked if using laxatives (to help with constipation) affected how quickly the drug was cleared from their bodies. The researchers found that kids who used laxatives more often were more likely to have slower methotrexate clearance. About 42.7% of the methotrexate treatments showed delayed clearance, and kids who used laxatives had a nearly 60% increased chance or delayed clearance.
This study suggests that constipation, which is assumed to be present in the kids who require laxative use, slows down the body’s ability to clear methotrexate. More research could help doctors find ways to improve drug clearance and reduce its side effects.
5-years of Follow Up Might be Enough for Rhabdomyosarcoma Survivors
Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common pediatric soft tissue sarcoma. Thanks to modern treatments, over 70% of kids with this cancer survive at least five years after being diagnosed. However, for kids who survive for five years, doctors still want to understand if certain problems might happen again, like the cancer coming back, or a different cancer forming.
A study conducted by the Children’s Oncology Group, and supported in part by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, looked at kids who were treated for this cancer between 1997 and 2013. Researchers found that only about 2.9% of kids who survived for five years had one of these late effects. This means because these late problems are rare, doctors may only need to keep a close watch for five years after treatment, rather than longer.
Not every publication of research supported by St. Baldrick’s makes the news, but each one adds to the body of scientific knowledge that takes us one step closer to better outcomes for kids with cancer. Your continued support will make more research possible to Conquer Kids’ Cancer.
Donate now and help support research into better treatments for kids with cancer.
