Search

Background: Metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) is associated with short survival. Other than platinum-based chemotherapy, there is no clear standard regimen. Current guidelines suggest that combination treatment with BRAF-inhibitors should be considered for patients with BRAF V600E-mutated NEC. However, since only eight such patients have been reported in the literature, our object was to confirm the validity of this recommendation. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study conducted at Uppsala University Hospital. The included patients 1) had a histopathologically confirmed diagnosis of NEC, 2) were diagnosed between January 1st, 2018 and December 31st, 2023, 3) had tumor tissue genetically screened by a broad next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel, and 4) showed a tumor mutation for which there is a currently available targeted therapy. Results: We screened 48 patients diagnosed with NEC between January 1st, 2018 and December 31st, 2023. Twelve had been analyzed with a broad NGS-panel, and two had a targetable mutation. Both these patients harbored a BRAF V600E-mutated colon-NEC and were treated with BRAF- and MEK-inhibitors dabrafenib and trametinib in second-line. At first radiological evaluation (RECIST 1.1), both patients had a reduction of tumor size, which decreased by 31 and 40%. Both had short response periods, and their overall survival was 12 and 9 months. Conclusions: BRAF-mutated NEC is sensitive to treatment with BRAF- and MEK-inhibitor combination. These results further support that DNA sequencing should be considered as standard of care in NECs to screen for potential treatment targets.

Background: Up to 50% of patients with advanced small-intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) and carcinoid syndrome (CS) develop carcinoid heart disease (CHD). However, the true frequency and prognostic markers for CHD in CS are lacking. We described the real-world management of patients in two NET referral centers in this clinical context and relationships between clinical features, including CHD and overall survival (OS). Patients and methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients with stage IV SI-NET and CS, treated at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and Uppsala University in Sweden between 2015 and 2021. CHD was defined as at least one moderate right-sided heart valve defect. Median OS and cumulative incidence of CHD were estimated from the diagnosis of metastatic disease, and the association between clinical parameters with both OS and occurrence of CHD was evaluated. Results: We included 165 patients, with 97% having low-intermediate-grade SI-NETs and 86% having synchronous liver metastases. Ninety-eight patients (59%) became refractory to full label dose of somatostatin analogues and 25% developed a CHD. At CHD diagnosis, baseline urine 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (24-h u5-HIAA) value and plasma Nterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) value were known in 76% of patients. Moderate-to-severe tricuspid insufficiency was the most common alteration of CHD. Prognosis was significantly impaired by CHD (multivariable hazard ratio for OS = 2.85, P < 0.001). The median OS from the CHD diagnosis was 4.5 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1-7.2 years], and the 5-year survival rate was 34% (95% CI 13% to 57%). Conclusions: In our study population of SI-NET patients with CS, more than half had a refractory carcinoid syndrome (RCS) and one-quarter developed a CHD, with a negative impact on OS. Therefore, it is recommended to screen and monitor patients with CS for CHD, ideally with a combination of u5-HIAA, NT-proBNP values, and echoc

Several inflammation scores have shown association with survival outcomes for patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NET) treated with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). However, whether these scores add value to established prognostic factors remains unknown. In this retrospective, cohort study of 557 NET patients undergoing PRRT in a tertiary referral centre from 2005 to 2015, we examined inflammatory markers and scores previously associated with cancer outcomes, using Cox proportional hazard models and Akaike's information criterion. Lower albumin (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval], .91 [.87-.95] per unit), as well as higher C-reactive protein (CRP; 1.02 [1.01-1.02]), Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS; 1 vs. 0: 1.67 [1.14-2.44], 2 vs. 0 3.60 [2.24-5.79]), CRP/albumin ratio (1.84 [1.43-2.37]) and platelet count (Plt) x CRP, but not white blood cell, neutrophil and thrombocyte counts or derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), were associated with shorter median overall survival (OS) in an adjusted analysis. The addition of parameters based on albumin and CRP, but not dNLR, to a base model including age, chromogranin A, the cell proliferation marker Ki-67, performance status, tumour site and previous treatments improved the predictive accuracy of the base model. In an exploratory analysis of patients with available erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and CRP, ESR emerged as the most powerful predictor. When added to a prognostic model for OS in NET patients treated with PRRT, most inflammation scores further improved the model. Albumin was the single marker adding most value to the set of established prognostic markers, whereas dNLR did not seem to improve the model's prognostic ability.

Lung neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) are a heterogeneous population of neoplasms with different pathology, clinical behavior, and prognosis compared to the more common lung cancers. The diagnostic work-up and treatment of patients with lung- NEN has undergone major recent advances and new methods are currently being introduced into the clinic. These Nordic guidelines summarize and update the Nordic Neuroendocrine Tumor Group's current view on how to diagnose and treat lung NEN-patients and are meant to be useful in the daily practice for clinicians handling these patients. This review reflects our view of the current state of the art of diagnosis and treatment of patients with lung-NEN. Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is not included in these guidelines.

Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumours (Si-NET) are often studied as a uniform group. Proliferation index Ki-67 influences prognosis and determines tumour grade. We hypothesized that Si-NET grade 2 (G2) tumours, which have a higher Ki-67 than G1 tumours, might benefit less from established treatments for metastatic disease. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 212 patients with metastatic Si-NET G2 treated in two Swedish hospitals during 20 years (2000-2019). Median cancer-specific survival on first-line somatostatin analogues (SSA) was 77 months. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 12.4 months when SSA was given as monotherapy and 19 months for all patients receiving first-line SSA. PFS after SSA dose escalation was 6 months in patients with radiological progression. Treatment efficacies of SSA and peptide receptor radionuclide treatment (PRRT) were studied separately in patients with Ki-67 of 3-5%, 5-10% and 10-20%. For SSA, PFS was significantly shorter at higher Ki-67 levels (31, 18 and 10 months, respectively), while there was only a minor difference in PFS for PRRT (29, 25 and 25 months). Median PFS for sequential treatment with interferon-alpha (IFN alpha), everolimus and chemotherapy was 6, 5 and 9 months. IFN alpha seemed to be effective in tumours with low somatostatin-receptor expression. In conclusion, established treatments appeared effective in Si-NET G2, despite their higher proliferation index compared to G1 tumours. However, efficacy of SSA but not PRRT was reduced at higher Ki-67 levels. SSA dose escalation provided limited disease stabilization., Funding Agencies|Swedish Cancer Society [18 0576]; Futurum - the Academy for Health and Care, Region Joenkoeping County

This ENETS guidance paper aims to provide practical advice to clinicians for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of functioning syndromes in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NET). A NET-associated functioning syndrome is defined by the presence of a clinical syndrome combined with biochemical evidence of inappropriately elevated hormonal levels. Different hormonal syndromes can be encountered in pancreatic NET patients, including insulinoma, gastrinoma as well as the rare glucagonoma, VIPoma, ACTHoma, PTHrPoma, carcinoid syndrome, calcitoninoma, GHRHoma and somatostatinoma. The recommendations provided in this paper focus on the biochemical, genetic and imaging work-up as well as therapeutic management of the individual hormonal syndromes in well-differentiated, grade 1-3, functioning NET with the primary tumour originating in the pancreas, and for specific subtypes also in the duodenum.

Objective: To determine the association of primary tumor resection in stage IV pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (Pan-NET) and survival in a propensity-score matched study. Background: Pan-NET are often diagnosed with stage IV disease. The oncologic benefit from primary tumor resection in this scenario is debated and previous studies show contradictory results. Methods: Patients from 3 tertiary referral centers from January 1, 1985, through December 31, 2019: Uppsala University Hospital (Uppsala, Sweden), Sahlgrenska University Hospital (Gothenburg, Sweden), and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA) were assessed for eligibility. Patients with sporadic, grade 1 and 2, stage IV pan-NET, with baseline 2000–2019 were divided between those undergoing primary tumor resection combined with oncologic treatment (surgery group [SG]), and those who received oncologic treatment without primary tumor resection (non-SG). A propensity-score matching was performed to account for the variability in the extent of metastatic disease and comorbidity. Primary outcome was overall survival. Results: Patients with stage IV Pan-NET (n = 733) were assessed for eligibility, 194 were included. Patients were divided into a SG (n = 65) and a non-SG (n = 129). Two isonumerical groups with 50 patients in each group remained after propensity-score matching. The 5-year survival was 65.4% (95% CI, 51.5-79.3) in the matched SG and 47.8% (95% CI, 30.6-65.0) in the matched non-SG (log-rank, P = 0.043). Conclusions: Resection of the primary tumor in patients with stage IV Pan-NET and G1/G2 grade was associated with prolonged overall survival compared to nonoperative management. A surgically aggressive regime should be considered where resection is not contraindicated.

The European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) promotes practices and procedures that aim to improve the standard of care delivered to patients diagnosed with or suspected of having neuroendocrine neoplasia (NEN). At its annual Scientific Advisory Board Meeting in 2018, experts in imaging, pathology and clinical care of patients with NEN drafted guidance for the standardised reporting of diagnostic studies critical to the diagnosis, grading, staging and treatment of NEN. These included pathology, radiology, endoscopy and molecular imaging procedures. In an iterative process, a synoptic reporting template for molecular imaging procedures was developed to guide personalised therapies. Following pilot implementation and refinement within the ENETS Center of Excellence network, harmonisation with specialist imaging societies including the Society of Nuclear Medicine, European Association of Nuclear Medicine and the International Cancer Imaging Society will be pursued.

Lutetium peptide receptor radio nuclide therapy (Lu-PRRT) is an effective treatment for progressive, metastatic, somatostatin-receptor-positive, well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (WD-NETs). Here, we report a single centre experience of real-world efficacy, long-term side effects, and challenges of this treatment. This was a retrospective analysis. All patients linked with our centre who had Lu-PRRT were included. Clinicopathological data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox regression. A total of 45 patients had Lu-PRRT, of those 30 (67%) were males, and 13 (29%) were more than 65 years old. The primary site was small intestine in 30 (67%) patients, pancreas in seven (16%) patients, and lung in three (7%) patients. The tumor was grade 1 in 15 (35%) patients, grade 2 in 22 (48%) patients, and grade 3 in six (13%) patients. A total of 41 (91%) patients had liver metastasis, and 20 (44%) patients had carcinoid syndrome. Lu-PRRT was the second-line therapy in all patients. Krenning's score was 4 in 36 (80%) patients and 3 in nine (20%) patients. The median waiting time to start Lu-PRRT therapy was 87 days. The median follow-up was 41 months. A total of 23 (51%) patients had a partial response, 18 (40%) patients had stable disease, and four (9%) patients had progression. None of the patients had a complete response. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 38 months (95% CI: 25.8-50.1). The median overall survival (OS) was not reached. Nine patients died during follow-up (death from any cause). Prior treatment with targeted therapies or high dose somatostatin analogues were negative predictors of Lu-PRRT outcome (p-values of < .001 and < .045, respectively). There were two serious haematological toxicities, one patient developed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and the other developed chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Lu-PRRT is an effective second-line treatment for metastatic WD-NETs. The effect of targeted therapies on Lu

Longitudinal changes in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (panNET) cell proliferation correlate with fast disease progression and poor prognosis. The optimal treatment strategy for secondary panNET grade (G)3 that has progressed from a previous low- or intermediate-grade to high-grade panNET G3 is currently unknown. This was a single-center retrospective cohort study aimed to characterize treatment patterns and outcomes among patients with secondary panNET-G3. Radiological responses were assessed using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. A total of 22 patients were included and received a median of 2 (range, 1–4) treatment lines in 14 different combinations. Median overall survival (OS) was 9 months (interquartile range (IQR): 4.25–17.5). For the 15 patients who received platinum–etoposide chemotherapy, median OS was 7.5 months (IQR: 3.75–10) and median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4 months (IQR: 2.5–5.5). The 15 patients who received conventional panNET therapies achieved a median OS of 8 months (IQR: 5–16.75) and median PFS was 5.5 months (IQR: 2.75–8.25). We observed one partial response on 177Lu DOTA-TATE therapy. In conclusion, this hypothesis-generating study failed to identify any promising treatment alternatives for patients with secondary panNET-G3. This demonstrates the need for both improved biological understanding of this particular NET entity and for designing prospective studies to further assess its treatment in larger patient cohorts.

Introduction: Telotristat ethyl is indicated for use in combination with somatostatin analogs (SSAs) to treat carcinoid syndrome (CS) diarrhea uncontrolled by SSAs alone in adults, but long-term safety and efficacy data beyond 48 weeks are needed. Objectives: The aims of the study were to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of telotristat ethyl and its effect on quality of life (QOL) in patients with CS. Methods: In this phase 3, nonrandomized, multicenter, open-label, long-term extension study (TELEPATH), patients who participated in phase 2 or 3 trials of telotristat ethyl continued treatment at their present dose level (250 or 500 mg thrice daily) for 84 weeks. Safety and tolerability, the primary endpoint, were assessed by monitoring adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, AEs of special interest (AESIs; including liver-related AEs, depression, and gastrointestinal AEs), and deaths. The secondary objective was to evaluate changes in patients’ QOL using validated cancer questionnaires and a subjective global assessment of CS symptoms. Results: In 124 patients exposed to telotristat ethyl for a mean of 102.6 ± 53.2 weeks, the type and frequency of AEs were consistent with those reported in previous trials. The occurrence of AESIs was not related to dosage or duration of therapy. Most AEs were mild to moderate in severity, and no deaths were related to telotristat ethyl. QOL scores remained stable, and the majority of patients reported adequate symptom relief throughout the study. Conclusions: Safety results of TELEPATH support the long-term use of telotristat ethyl in patients with CS diarrhea. Telotristat ethyl was well-tolerated and associated with sustained improvement in QOL scores (NCT02026063).

BACKGROUND: Hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system are a prominent feature of von Hippel-Lindau-disease (vHL). Hemangioblastomas are known to secrete vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), suggesting a potential role of VEGF as a biomarker for tumor growth. METHODS: Plasma VEGF samples from 24 patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease were analyzed by solid-phase proximity ligation assay (PLA). Levels were monitored over time together with numeric and volumetric CNS tumor burden, and compared to plasma VEGF levels in healthy controls. RESULTS: The mean yearly progression in tumor volume was 65.5%. Yearly risk of developing one or several new CNS tumor(s) was 50%. No significant correlation between tumor burden and levels of VEGF was seen. VEGF levels in patients (31.55-92.04; mean 55.83, median 56.41) as measured by immunodetection in a solid-phase PLA did not differ significantly from controls (37.38-104.56; mean 58.89, median 54.12) (p = 0,266). CONCLUSION: The increase in total CNS tumor volume in vHL occurred in a saltatory manner. The risk of developing a new lesion was 50% per year. We found no evidence for VEGF secretion from CNS hemangioblastomas in vHL in circulating blood. Other potential biomarkers should be explored to assess progression of tumor burden in vHL.

In May 1982, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of streptozotocin to treat pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (panNETs). Thus, this year marks 40 years since that landmark date. This review of streptozotocin to treat panNETs is intended to commemorate this anniversary. A historical perspective of the chemical structure, pharmacokinetics, and mechanism of action of streptozotocin is followed by data from prospective and retrospective clinical studies. The last section of the review addresses the latest aspects and takes note of the prospects that lie ahead on the future horizon of the use of streptozotocin to treat panNETs, including ongoing clinical trials.

[Introduction] Telotristat ethyl is indicated for use in combination with somatostatin analogs (SSAs) to treat carcinoid syndrome (CS) diarrhea uncontrolled by SSAs alone in adults, but long-term safety and efficacy data beyond 48 weeks are needed., [Objectives] The aims of the study were to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of telotristat ethyl and its effect on quality of life (QOL) in patients with CS., [Methods] In this phase 3, nonrandomized, multicenter, open-label, long-term extension study (TELEPATH), patients who participated in phase 2 or 3 trials of telotristat ethyl continued treatment at their present dose level (250 or 500 mg thrice daily) for 84 weeks. Safety and tolerability, the primary endpoint, were assessed by monitoring adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, AEs of special interest (AESIs; including liver-related AEs, depression, and gastrointestinal AEs), and deaths. The secondary objective was to evaluate changes in patients’ QOL using validated cancer questionnaires and a subjective global assessment of CS symptoms, [Results] In 124 patients exposed to telotristat ethyl for a mean of 102.6 ± 53.2 weeks, the type and frequency of AEs were consistent with those reported in previous trials. The occurrence of AESIs was not related to dosage or duration of therapy. Most AEs were mild to moderate in severity, and no deaths were related to telotristat ethyl. QOL scores remained stable, and the majority of patients reported adequate symptom relief throughout the study., [Conclusions] Safety results of TELEPATH support the long-term use of telotristat ethyl in patients with CS diarrhea. Telotristat ethyl was well-tolerated and associated with sustained improvement in QOL scores (NCT02026063).