39. Crizotinib
The first drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for treatment of ALK-rearranged cancers
was crizotinib, an orally bioavailable ATP-competitive 2,4-
pyrimidinediamine derivative [PF2341066; Pfizer Inc. ].
Crizotinib binds to the inactive conformation of ALK and has
shown striking efficacy against ALK-rearranged tumors such as
NSCLC and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. In early-
phase clinical testing, the overall response rate was 57% in a
population of 82 patients with EML4-ALK–positive NSCLC
45. Monoclonal antibody against the tumor-associated
disialoganglioside GD2, ch14.18 has activity against
neuroblastoma and that such activity is enhanced when
ch14.18 is combined with granulocyte–macrophage colony-
stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or interleukin-2. We conducted a
study to determine whether adding ch14.18, GM-CSF, and
interleukin-2 to standard isotretinoin therapy after intensive
multimodal therapy would improve outcomes in high-risk
neuroblastoma.
48. KIR and HLA Genotypes Are Associated with Disease
Progression and Survival following Autologous Hematopoietic
Stem Cell Transplantation for High-Risk Neuroblastoma
• NK cells exhibit cytotoxicity against neuroblastoma. Gene
polymorphisms governing NK cell function, therefore, may
influence prognosis. Two highly polymorphic genetic loci
instrumental in determining NK cell responses encode the NK
cell killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) and their class
I human leukocyte antigen (HLA) ligands. We hypothesized
that patients with a “missing ligand” KIR-HLA compound
genotype may uniquely benefit from autologous
hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).