Meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) therapy is now offered by Hematology/Oncology/Blood and Marrow Transplant at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Patients with neuroblastoma who qualify for treatment with MIBG therapy can be treated in this new facility, with round-the-clock supervision by specially trained staff through video and audio monitoring.
Instead of the dark, basement rooms offered for this cancer treatment at many other institutions, the MIBG treatment suite at Nationwide Children’s boasts a view from the hospital’s 12th floor, complete with a private bathroom and connected parent room. Parents or guardians can monitor and communicate with their child through a glass partition and even help set up movies or television programs.
MIBG is a chemical that started as a blood pressure medicine. It was found to be preferentially picked up by neural crest cells which give rise to, among other things, parts of your adrenal glands. Neural crest cells can also give rise to a type of cancer, neuroblastoma. Neuroblastomas are in a class of tumors (called neuro-endocrine tumors) that will take up MIBG and can respond to treatment with MIBG.
The new MIBG room is double the size of standard patient rooms, and the attached parent suite includes a bed. Because patients undergoing this therapy may be treated in the MIBG room for up to five days, the facility was designed with patient and family comfort in mind.
More information on the MIBG treatment process including an animated tour of the room and a photo gallery can be viewed at nationwidechildrens.org/mibg-room.