Future perspectives on neuroendocrine tumors

Abstract

In the last 30 years the incidence and prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) has increased substantially. This could be partly due to improvements in diagnostic imaging, which lead to the incidental diagnosis of asymptomatic cases. However, despite these improvements, patients typically experience long delays before they are diagnosed. In this review, we discuss both the limitations and advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis, molecular and cellular biology, diagnosis, classification, staging, and treatment of GEP-NETs in order to identify which factors could be contributing to the delay in diagnosis and timely treatment of these patients. Within this context, the results from the most relevant clinical trials the available targeted therapies for the treatment of GEP-NETs, such as the "RAD001 in Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors," will be discussed.

Everolimus Plus Octreotide Long-Acting Repeatable in Patients With Colorectal Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Subgroup Analysis of the Phase III RADIANT-2 Study

“…To date, treatment options for these patients have been limited; low efficacy and significant toxicity have been reported with the use of chemotherapeutic and biotherapeutic agents [4]. The need is urgent for new treatment options that reduce the risk for disease progression and improve survival rates without compromising patient wellbeing [27,28].…”

Epidemiological trends for functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: A study combining multiple imputation with age adjustment

“…This decrease may result from recent improvements in tumor localization, which enable tumors to be detected early. The techniques that can be used include somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS), computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, selective angiography, and endoscopic ultrasound ( 18 ). In line with previous studies ( 4 ), we found that insulinomas and gastrinomas are the most common F-PNETs.…”

A Case of High-Grade Neuroendocrine Carcinoma That Improved with Bevacizumab plus Modified FOLFOX6 as the Fourth-Line Chemotherapy

“…In advanced neuroendocrine carcinoma, targeting therapies seem to be the best real hope for treatment because of insufficiency of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. The rationale behind their investigation is that neuroendocrine carcinomas are highly vascular and have been shown to express several angiogenic factors including VEGF [10]. Future clinical studies are required to confirm the efficacy of bevacizumab in the treatment for high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma.…”