Dinutuximab

Miles has been home for a week-and-a-half reclaiming the summer. He's been no less susceptible than everyone else to Pokemon Go, and thankfully has not walked into traffic or stumbled upon dead bodies.  He made it to the Dave Matthews Band show last Wednesday night, visited with some key peeps, and restarted athletic training.  He's been very encouraging to his all-star brother, and may have succeeded in having Louis keep that bat back and his elbow up.

He had a normal CT of the chest and echocardiogram last Friday. That same day he visited his prosthetist, Mike Amrick, who measured him for a new leg, and extended his current one by an inch-and-a-half.  A welcome symmetry.

This morning, he had a venous port placed in preparation for his medical therapy regimen which starts this Monday.

Miles is entering a large clinical trial that uses immunotherapy to treat recurrent metastatic childhood cancers.  The primary medicine is dinutuximab (Unitux). Dinutuximab is a manufactured antibody (monoclonal IgG anti-GDP for those of you with deeper interest), similar to the antibodies we make ourselves, that in this case targets a cellular protein found on cancer cells.  A second medication that stimulates white blood cells, GM-CSF, is given in parallel to encourage the immune system to attack cells "marked" by the administered antibodies.

The schedule: a 2-3 day infusion in the hospital every four weeks, for five cycles.  We think his symptoms will be mild between infusions, so he should be able to practice baseball and continue conditioning.  He's on the Oyster River baseball team headed to Cooperstown for tournament play, starting August 12.