HOMEPRODUCTSCOMPANYCONTACTFAQResearchDictionaryPharmaSign Up FREE or Login

Treatment of liver metastases in patients with neuroendocrine tumors of gastroesophageal and pancreatic origin.

Abstract
Well-to-moderately differentiated neuroendocrine tumors of gastroesophageal and pancreatic origin (GEP-NETs) with liver metastasis are a heterogeneous group of malignancies for which a range of therapeutic options have been employed. Surgical resection of hepatic metastases or hepatic artery embolization may be beneficial in patients with hepatic-predominant metastatic disease. Patients with "carcinoid" syndrome and syndromes associated with functional pancreatic NET (PNET) can be effectively treated with somatostatin analogs. On the other hand, the efficacy of systemic chemotherapy for these patients is limited. A placebo-controlled, double-blind, prospective, and randomized study showed that octreotide LAR improves progression-free survival in patients with advanced midgut functional "carcinoids." In patients with advanced pancreatic NET, randomized, placebo-controlled studies have recently demonstrated that treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib or with mTOR inhibitor everolimus is associated with improved progression-free survival. Based on these studies, octreotide LAR, sunitinib, or everolimus are now considered as first-line therapeutic options in patients with advanced NET. Future studies will likely further define the role of these agents in patients with carcinoid liver metastasis and pancreatic NET liver metastasis.
AuthorsPing Gu, Jennifer Wu, Elliot Newman, Franco Muggia
JournalInternational journal of hepatology (Int J Hepatol) Vol. 2012 Pg. 131659 ( 2012) ISSN: 2090-3456 [Electronic] United States
PMID22518318 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!

Take advantage of free CureHunter research engine access to explore the best drug and treatment options for any disease. Find out why thousands of doctors, pharma researchers and patient activists around the world use CureHunter every day.
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!


Choose Username:
Email:
Password:
Verify Password:
Enter Code Shown: