Breaking News On Brooke Mulford

CT Scan is CLEAR!

Brooke had her abdominal CT Scan today and there was no evidence of disease in the area where it all started (her initial solid tumor was in her right adrenal gland which was removed in May). She still has her bone marrow biopsy tomorrow (Thurs) morning (arrive at 8:30am) and an MIBG scan at 1:30pm. Keep praying for NED!

I met with Dr. Mosse regarding the Chimeric Anitbody (ch14.18) clinical trial that Brooke is enrolled in and will begin on Nov. 18th and will last about 6 months. The info I am about to give you is from the packet I received from CHOP. Children with high risk Neuroblastoma often respond to standard treatment at first, but there is a high risk that the cancer will come back. This study is being done to try and improve the likelihood that the cancer will not come back.

Brooke will receive the experimental treatment ch14.18 + IL2 + GM-CSF + Accutane.

This study involves the use of ch14.18, a monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in the lab, designed to attach to specific cancer cells. Ch14.18 was designed to attach to Neuroblastoma cells and other cancer cells that have GD-2 on their cells. When ch14.18 attaches to the NB cells, the body’s immune system is stimulated to attack and kill the NB cells. Ch14.18 represents a new kind of cancer therapy that, unlike chemotherapy and radiation, targets the destruction of cancer cells without destroying nearby healthy cells.

IL2 is a substance that is similar to a substance made by the body in all individuals. Under normal circumstances, the body makes small amounts of IL2 that helps white blood cells fight infection. It is now possible to make IL2 outside the body and give humans much higher doses than their own body makes. There is some evidence that IL2 increases the anti-cancer effect of monoclonal antibodies like ch14.18.

GM-CSF helps the body to produce infection fighting white blood cells.

Accutane is a drug closely related to vitamin A and has been shown to help stop the multiplication of remaining NB cells.

There are 5 very long pages of risks and side effects from these drugs which I won’t go into detail on but the common side effects that I’ve heard about are extreme pain, high fevers & rash/hives. If you look at all the possible side effects you would probably wonder why we would choose to put Brooke through all of this. The fact is, without this her chances of long term survival aren’t great. This clinical trial has been shown to increase survival 20% which is huge. Brooke has done so well with all of her treatments so far and is so tough that I just hope and pray that she will tolerate this well too.

Well , it’s getting late and I’m drained. Please keep Brooke in your prayers. Thurs is a big day for us. I’m not sure when we will get the results (MIBG results hopefully by Friday but Bone Marrow Biopsies seem to take a few days). I will try to post something as soon as I hear.

God Bless,

Amy