HAMA

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we called New York yesterday and they told us that Eli is once again HAMA negative! Thank you all for your prayers.

For those of you that may be a bit new to our CarePage, or don’t remember what HAMA means, let me explain (with some copy and paste action from Sloan’s website). HAMA stands for “human anti-mouse antibodies.” HAMA measures how strongly the body’s immune system is reacting to 3F8. 3F8, like most monoclonal antibodies, comes from the white blood cells of a mouse. This means that 3F8 looks different from a human antibody, and thus patients will eventually form antibodies (HAMA) against 3F8. Once a patient has developed HAMA, 3F8 treatments are no longer effective because the HAMA blocks the 3F8 from getting to neuroblastoma cells. If the patient has received the desired amount of 3F8 by the time HAMA has developed, then treatment with 3F8 will be discontinued. However, if the patient has not yet received the desired amount, it is possible that HAMA may recede, and in that case we can resume 3F8 treatments.

I hope that helps explains why we are very excited each time we get the “HAMA Negative” results. It just means that we can continue getting this treatment for Eli!