Predictors of survival in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma who failed tandem high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation

Objective This study aims to explore prognostic factors for high-risk neuroblastoma patients with response failure to tandem high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDCT/auto-SCT). Methods Survival outcomes were compared according to characteristics at initial diagnosis, at relapse/progression, and after relapse/progression in patients who experienced relapse/progression after tandem HDCT/auto-SCT from 2006 to 2018. Results Forty-nine patients experienced relapse/progression after tandem HDCT/auto-SCT during the study period: 43 received salvage treatment and 30 underwent allogeneic SCT (allo-SCT) after reinduction treatment. Although all six patients who did not undergo salvage treatment died, 13 of the 43 patients who did remain alive. The 3-year probabilities of event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) from initial relapse/progression among the 49 patients were 14.4% +/- 5.2% and 21.2% +/- 6.4%, respectively. A higher neuron-specific enolase (NSE) level (>24 ng/mL) at relapse/progression was an independent prognostic factor for worse OS. Nine of 30 patients who underwent allo-SCT remain alive, and the 3-year probabilities of EFS and OS from allo-SCT were 16.5% +/- 7.2% and 21.6% +/- 8.3%, respectively. A higher NSE level and no incorporation of high-dose I-131-metaiodobenzylguanidine (HD-MIBG) treatment into allo-SCT were independent prognostic factors for worse EFS and OS after allo-SCT. Conclusion The results suggest that a higher serum NSE level at relapse/progression is a predictor of worse prognosis in patients with response failure to tandem HDCT/auto-SCT, and that incorporation of HD-MIBG treatment into allo-SCT may improve outcomes.