Rituximab

This week in ISM, I studied the immunotherapy of Rituximab, also known as Unituxin. In studying this treatment, I learned more about the cancer that it specifically deals with. This treatment is FDA approved to combat high-risk neuroblastoma. Learning about the cancer dosing helped me better understand the need for immunotherapy treatment.

Unituxin is an antibody that binds to the surface of the neuroblastoma cells. This treatment is commonly seen paired with another form of treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. In a clinical trial of 226 pediatric participants with high risk neuroblastoma whose tumors shrunk or disappeared after treatment, proved the safety and efficiency of the treatment. I found the statistics interesting that three years after treatment, 63 percent of trial participants were alive and free of tumor growth or reoccurrence.

This treatment was interesting to break apart and learn the dosing of the routine trial and its applicability to the FDA approved treatment used for the same high-risk neuroblastoma as practiced on.

In my upcoming secondary research, I hope to break down two of the three child cancer immunotherapies and focus on their dosing as well as their targeted cancer and purpose in the treatment process. Researching the different FDA approved therapies and their role in cancer treatment for children, I will have a been exposed to the reality through numbers of the future of all cancer treatment.