Dr. Soares on Advances in the Management of Pancreatic NETs

Heloisa P. Soares, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, assistant professor, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, discusses advances in the management of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).

In January 2018, the FDA approved Lutetium 177 (¹⁷⁷Lu) Dotatate, a peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), for the treatment of patients with somatostatin receptor–positive gastroenteropancreatic NETs. The regulatory decision represented a significant advancement in the treatment of this patient population, Soares explains.

Different variations of PRRT using radiosensitizers, chemosensitizers, or novel radioisotopes are being evaluated to further expand the use of PRRT in pancreatic NETs, Soares adds.

More recently, on August 13, 2021, the FDA approved belzutifan (Welireg) for the treatment of patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease who require therapy for associated renal cell carcinoma, central nervous system hemangioblastomas, or pancreatic NETs that do not require immediate surgery, Soares says.

Beyond this, investigational therapies are emerging as potential options for patients with pancreatic NETs. For example, in July 2021, the FDA accepted the filing of a new drug application for surufatinib as a potential option to treat patients with pancreatic and extra-pancreatic NETs. The application was supported by findings from the phase 3 SANET-p (NCT02589821) and SANET-ep (NCT02588170) trials, which were conducted in China. A phase 1/2 trial (NCT02549937) of surufatinib was conducted in the United States. Interim findings from the study demonstrated consistent antitumor activity with surufatinib as observed in the phase 3 studies, Soares concludes.