Correspondence on "G-CSF as a suitable alternative to GM-CSF to boost dinutuximab-mediated neutrophil cytotoxicity in neuroblastoma treatment" by Martinez Sanz et al

Abstract

Dear Editor, We read with great interest the work by Martinez Sanz et al1 ‘G-CSF as a suitable alternative to GM-CSF to boost dinutuximabmediated neutrophil cytotoxicity in neuroblastoma treatment,’ published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer on May 28, 2021. The authors note access to recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhu GM-CSF; sargramostim (yeast-derived)) is limited outside of North America, potentially leading to suboptimal treatment of patients with neuroblastoma and therefore necessitating an alternative agent to stimulate dinutuximab immunotherapy-responsiveness in the treatment of neuroblastoma. Using preclinical models, the study compared the efficacy of neutrophils stimulated with either GM-CSF or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to kill dinutuximab-opsonized GD2- positive neuroblastoma cell lines and primary patient tumor material. G-CSF enhancement of neutrophil killing capacity of neuroblastoma cells was reported to be as potent as GM-CSF. The authors concluded that their in vitro study, along with other preclinical and small clinical studies, justifies the study of G-CSF as a potentially suitable alternative for sargramostim in patients with neuroblastoma.