Can a Drug For Another Disease Be Used Against Neuroblastoma and Brain Tumors?
After the successful completion of the phase 1 trial, which determined both the safety and correct dosage of the combination of drugs, Solving Kids’ Cancer launched a phase II trial to test Nifurtimox in more children with neuroblastoma, and also in children with medulloblastoma.
Project Title: Nifurtimox for Refractory or Relapsed Neuroblastoma or Medulloblastoma
Researcher: Giselle Sholler, MD
Institution: NMTRC Institutions
Study Type: Phase II clinical trial
Status: Ongoing
Drugs used for another disease are occasionally found to work against cancer, and sometimes this discovery happens accidently. This was the case with Nifurtimox, a drug used to treat a parasitic disease called Chagas Disease. One of the co-founders of Solving Kids’ Cancer had read a case study reporting how Nifurtimox reduced the tumor size in a child with neuroblastoma that did not respond to chemotherapy. After the successful completion of the phase I trial, which determined both the safety and correct dosage of the combination of drugs, Solving Kids’ Cancer launched a phase II trial to test Nifurtimox in more children with neuroblastoma, as well as in children with medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor. This phase II clinical trial is now available at over 13 cancer centers in the U.S.
To learn more about this trial, visit clinicaltrials.gov