Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Although anti-VEGF RTKIs have been tested in patients with NETs over the last 2 decades, no study to date has benchmarked efficacy and toxicity of these drugs in this patient population.Methods: A literature search was performed to identify all phase II and phase III studies of anti-VEGF RTKIs in patients with NETs published between January 1, 2000 – July 31, 2021. Major trial databases (e.g. Medline, EMBASE, Cumulative Index of Nursing ...

Background: Patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) have high burden of symptoms that persists over years after diagnosis. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are routinely screened for in oncology practice but seldomly used to trigger interventions. Further information about how PROs are linked to outcomes is necessary to improve their use for symptom management for NETs. We examined the association between PROs symptom burden and urgent healthcare use after NET diagnosis.</p...

Background: The incidence of germline pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants (P/LPV) is relatively well described in low grade well differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). However, germline findings in G3 NENs including grade 3 NETs (G3NET) and poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) is gravely understudied, and guidance related to germline testing in G3NEN is lacking.Methods: An IRB approved, single institution, retrospective chart revi...

Background: Lanreotide is clinically effective in advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). The inhibitory effect of lanreotide on tumor cells proliferation is due to binding to somatostatin receptors (SSTR1-5). It has been demonstrated that immune cells express SSTR1-5 differentially. The exact effect of somatostatin analogs (SSAs) on T cell function is not understood.Methods: In vitro and in vivo effects of lanreotide on immune cells wer...

Background: Multiple unmet needs of patients diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor (NET) have been described in the literature, especially informational and psychological needs. A multidisciplinary approach has been suggested to improve overall care of NET patients. Trained patient advisors (PA) could complement the healthcare team, by providing a personalized accompaniment to patients based on their experiential knowledge, therefore helping to bridge this current gap. The aim...

Background: Pulmonary carcinoid (PC) tumors represent approximately 25% of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and about 2% of all lung cancers. Despite the relative prevalence of PCs compared to all NETs, there is only one FDA indicated therapy (everolimus). Since regulatory approvals stem from publications that are often initially presented at scientific meetings, we sought to determine the frequency of presentations including PCs at two major international NET and lung cancer meet...

Background: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are a clinically heterogenous group. Determining the appropriate selection of therapy and optimal monitoring can be difficult due to their diverse behavior. Furthermore, monitoring or surveillance typically consist of frequent imaging, potentially over decades. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has shown promise as a minimally invasive approach to disease monitoring and treatment response assessment in a variety o...

Background: Germline pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants occur in approximately 10% of NEN patients with recent data suggesting a higher frequency in pancreatic NENs or paraganglioma/pheochromocytoma (PPGL). However, identification of VUS can complicate interpretation of germline results, particularly when diverse populations are under study and the optimal gene panel size for testing remains unclear.Methods: A single-center retrospective cha...

Background: SSTR substypes are collectively expressed in the majority of NENs. However, SSTR subtype expression is not routinely assessed for clinical decision-making, including patients eligible for targeted radionucleotide therapy. Elucidating the landscape of SSTR subtypes in context of molecular profiles for low-grade (LG-) and high-grade NENs (HG-NENs) provides an opportunity to better tailor targeted therapy. Here, we leverage the ability of transcriptomics to predict NE...

Background: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) are known to be associated with specific familial syndromes. However, the incidence of pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) in unselected NEN patients is unknown. In this study, we aim to determine the prevalence and clinical utility of PGVs in unselected NEN patients using universal a genetic testing approach.Methods: We undertook a prospective study of germline genetic testing using a > 80 gene next-generat...

Background: Patients with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL) often face difficulties in obtaining timely and accurate diagnosis, as well as in accessing experienced specialists. However, little is known about the experiences of patients in obtaining effective care.Methods: To address this gap and give voice to the patients, we invited potential participants, through social media, email, and the PheoPara Alliance (PPA) website, to complete a 20-min onl...

Background: Subspecialty tumor boards (TB) are uncommon and their benefit has not been clearly demonstrated for patients and providers alike. We tried to determine the decision patterns of a newly minted neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) tumor board (TB) and the factors behind those.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all NEN TB recommendations from 07/2018 to 12/2021 and recorded patient characteristics, TB outcomes and associations between them.<p cla...