Prospective Evaluation of Radiation Dose Escalation in Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma and Gross Residual Disease After Surgery: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group ANBL0532 Study

Liu KX, Naranjo A, Zhang FF, DuBois SG, Braunstein SE, Voss SD, Khanna G, London WB, Doski JJ, Geiger JD, Kreissman SG, Grupp SA, Diller LR, Park JR, Haas-Kogan DA. Prospective Evaluation of Radiation Dose Escalation in Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma and Gross Residual Disease After Surgery: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group ANBL0532 Study. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Aug 20;38(24):2741-2752. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.03316. Epub 2020 Jun 12. PubMed PMID: 32530765; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7430214.

A primary objective of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) ANBL0532 phase III study was to assess the effect of increasing local dose of radiation to a residual primary tumor on the cumulative incidence of local progression (CILP) in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. Newly diagnosed patients with high-risk neuroblastoma were randomly assigned or assigned to receive single or tandem autologous stem-cell transplantation (SCT) after induction chemotherapy. Local control consisted of surgical resection during induction chemotherapy and radiotherapy after last SCT. Patients received 21.6 Gy to the preoperative primary tumor volume. For patients with incomplete surgical resection, an additional boost of 14.4 Gy was delivered to the gross residual tumor, for a total dose of 36 Gy. CILP (primary end point) and event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS; secondary end points) were compared with the COG A3973 historical cohort, in which all patients received single SCT and 21.6 Gy without a boost.