Dr Jinhui Gao, a Research Fellow will be looking into, ‘Investigating the role of Enhancer of Zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and Natural Killer cells in Neuroblastoma’.

Intensive chemotherapy used in the treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma does not cure all children and has significant side effects and long-term toxicity, so it is imperative that we continue to look for new treatments. One area is to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy. Anti-GD2 immunotherapy is now a mainstay in the therapy of neuroblastoma. Natural killer cells play a major role in the effectiveness of anti-GD2 immunotherapy and EZH2 alters the action of natural killer cells. This pilot study will investigate the benefit of combining EZH2 inhibitors and anti-GD2 immunotherapy.

The preliminary data generated would justify further research into this potential way to improve immunotherapy for patients with neuroblastoma.