title: Place of meta-[131I]iodobenzylguanidine in the treatment of neuroblastoma: the Genoa experience.
abstract: The aim of this paper is to focus on our previous experience with the treatment of Group 3 and 4 neuroblastoma patients and on the therapeutic use of [131I]MIBG, to better define the role of this radioactive drug in the treatment of neuroblastoma (NB). Analysis of the studies on Group 3 patients treated with chemotherapy and surgery showed that the progression-free survival (PFS) increased from 45% for patients treated before 1985 to 63% for patients treated in the period of 1985-1989 and to 78% for patients treated after 1989. [131I]MIBG administered in 17 Group 3 patients who did not achieve a radical excision of the primary resulted in 7 partial response (PR) and 5 minor response (MR), with 10 cases of long term survival. Results in Group 4 patients confirmed the good prognosis in the subset of children aged 6-12 months at diagnosis (PFS 86% at 5 years). In patients aged > 12 months at diagnosis intensive induction chemotherapy induced a higher response rate of 69% and PFS was 26% at 5 years. [131I]MIBG administered in advanced stage 4 patients induced a response in 50% of the cases (2 complete response [CR], 13 PR and 2 MR out of 34 children) and 8 children treated for residual primary (4 cases) or residual bone metastases (4 cases) are long term survivors. We conclude that [131I]MIBG is the treatment of choice in Group 3 patient with a residual primary tumor and could contribute to consolidate the response obtained in Group 4 patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, G. Gaslini Institute, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garaventa
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pianca
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nigro
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Bernardi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Claudiani
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stimamiglio
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertolazzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabria
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Villavecchia
mesh_terms: D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine; D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007462:Iodobenzenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007558:Italy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual / Q000532:radiotherapy; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012074:Remission Induction; D015996:Survival Rate; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D007462:Iodobenzenes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine