Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Young Patients Who Are Undergoing Surgery and an Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant for Disseminated Neuroblastoma

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2008-03-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. A bone marrow transplant, using bone marrow from the patient, may be able to replace blood-forming cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy. It is not yet know which combination chemotherapy schedule is more effective, when given before surgery and an autologous bone marrow transplant, in treating patients with disseminated neuroblastoma.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying two different chemotherapy schedules to compare how well they work in treating young patients who are undergoing surgery and an autologous bone marrow transplant for disseminated neuroblastoma.

• Phase: Phase 3
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group
• Treatments: Carboplatin; Cyclophosphamide; Etoposide; Melphalan; Vincristine

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed disseminated neuroblastoma

• No local or regional neuroblastoma

• No disseminated disease that is demonstrated by meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scan only

• Needle biopsy of primary tumor required

• Fine needle aspiration is not adequate

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• No prior chemotherapy

• No other prior therapy