Cancer Issues
Beating Cancer - Child Cured of Neuroblastoma
By
May 6, 2010 - 3:23:33 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Imagine learning that your infant or toddler is suffering from a rare form of cancer. In the past this would be a heartbreaking diagnosis. Now, however, thanks to advanced treatment and the efforts of Mehmet Fevzi Ozkaynak, MD, a leading hematology and pediatric oncology physician at Children’s and Women’s Physicians of Westchester (CWPW) in Valhalla, New York www.cwpw.org, there is new hope that state of the art immunotherapy can in many cases eradicate the form of cancer known as pediatric neuroblastoma and allow young patients to thrive and go on to lead normal, fulfilling lives.



“We concentrate on high-risk patients, usually with stage four cancer,” Dr. Ozkaynak explains. “In essence we are working to cure cancer with immunotherapy — bolstering the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells.” While immunotherapy is not new, Dr. Ozkaynak and his colleagues are making new discoveries on how the immune system can be strengthened to counteract neuroblastoma. His work has helped to develop a procedure where antibodies adhere to the surface of cancer cells, enabling the immune system to target the disease, and eliminate it.



As a member of the CWPW medical subspecialty team, Dr. Ozkaynak is proud of his discoveries in the use of immunotherapy to treat a rare but otherwise dangerous form of pediatric cancer. And thanks to CWPW’s network of offices throughout the Lower Hudson Valley, Westchester, The Bronx and Connecticut, parents have immunotherapy treatment available right in their neighborhood without having to travel to New York or out of state. “It’s a rare disease, but this has really changed the direction of treatment for neuroblastoma,” Dr. Ozkaynak says. “Now, there is more hope.”



How can parents tell if their infant or toddler might have neuroblastoma? Dr. Ozkaynak says it can appear as a lump on the abdomen or in the neck/chest area, or lower-extremity pain with no obvious explanation. “You might find your child has a lump with no history of trauma,” he notes. “This could be an indication.” Parents are urged to bring their child to a CWPW office for a proper diagnosis, which typically involves a biopsy.



According to Dr. Ozkaynak, about 600 cases of neuroblastoma are diagnoses in the United States every year. A nationwide study on the effects of immunotherapy on neuroblastoma was undertaken in 2000, and last year the outcome was heralded as a breakthrough — immunotherapy treatment had a 66 percent success rate, which is a 20% improvement over the standard approach. Used in conjunction with traditional treatments like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, immunotherapy is viewed as very promising for ailing children. “These are very important historical findings,” Dr. Ozkaynak says. “It has really changed the standard of care.”



Antibody treatment can be physically grueling for children, Dr. Ozkaynak points out, with patients treated for four days once a month for five months. But the advantages can greatly outweigh the downside, and now the immunotherapy treatment, which is produced by the National Cancer Institute, is widely available.



Dr. Ozkaynak, is also a professor of pediatrics at New York Medical College and staff physician at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital/Westchester Medical Center. He has been deeply involved in the use of bone marrow and stem cell transplantation to treat neuroblastoma. A Vice Chairperson of the national Children’s Oncology Group focused on high-risk neuroblastoma patients, Dr. Ozkaynak is blazing new trails in treating infants and toddlers with solid tumors, and with great success.



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About Children's & Women's Physicians of Westchester, LLP

Children's & Women's Physicians of Westchester is one of the largest medical practices in the nation comprised of dedicated doctors and health professionals committed to providing comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care to women, infants, children and adolescents.

The medical practice in addition to its office at the Munger Pavilion has offices at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and 503 Grasslands Road in Valhalla, Phelps Memorial Hospital, Medical Services Building in Sleepy Hollow, Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle, St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, WMC Medical Arts Atrium in Hawthorne, Children's Medical Group and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, Good Samaritan Hospital, Suffern Medical Pavilion in Suffern, Orange Specialty Center in Middletown, Herbert Kania Pediatric Group in Warwick, Medical Center of New Windsor in New Windsor, Danbury Hospital, Medical Arts Center in Danbury, Greenwich Hospital, Watson Building in Greenwich, The Center for Advanced Pediatrics, Norwalk Hospital and at 149 East Avenue in Norwalk, Woodlawn Medical Arts Building and Montefiore North in The Bronx.

visit our website at www.cwpw.org.

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