Treatment for Neuroendocrine Tumors

There is about 400 excess deaths from neuroendocrine tumors in the United States each year. Recent findings supports the importance of increased awareness and surveillance for neuroendocrine tumors. It also highlights a public health benefit from expanding access to diagnostic modalities and optimizing therapeutic regimens for these neoplasms.

Many endocrine lesions are amenable to hormonal therapy alone or with surgery and/or radiation therapy. In addition, some cancers of the digestive system and pancreas, such as neuroendocrine tumors, can be surgically removed to help manage their symptoms.

The cause of neuroendocrine tumors is still uncertain. Current theories of their genesis are compatible with the data presented here. These data suggest that a mixture of somatic, genetic, and environmental factors may contribute to the development of these neoplasms.

With proper diagnosis at presentation and management, there is no clear evidence that neuroendocrine tumors can be cured. However, if cure is possible, it will likely involve surgery.

Symptoms of neuroendocrine tumors can range from nonspecific inapparent symptoms, such as fatigue and nonspecific pain, to more alarming symptoms of heart failure, severe anemia, and severe weight loss in response to chemotherapy. It is important to understand the signs of neuroendocrine tumors to avoid misdiagnosis and lead to delays in patient management.\nsummary: This article describes the physical signs of neuroendocrine tumors. The patient's condition and signs of the tumor are explained.

These tumors can be primary or metastatic and are usually small. Because of their rarity, these tumors are frequently under-diagnosed. They can cause several types of symptoms, including enlargement of the liver and/or an enlarged pituitary. Their treatment can be surgical atrial thrombectomy with/without radiotherapy, as well as medical chemotherapy with/without radiation therapy, and/or targeted therapies.

The data in this review can be used to build models of treatment in combination with other treatments in the treatment of patients with neuroendocrine tumors. In each case, the role of treatment with any other treatment remains to be investigated. Clinical trials are ongoing and should be considered.

Neuroendocrine tumors in children and adolescents tend to be as large as tumors in adults and represent an important and less-recognized disease burden. Given that neuroendocrine tumors rarely cause symptoms unless they are large, new therapies that address symptomatology and quality of life may improve outcomes for children and adolescents with neuroendocrine tumors. Clinical trial design tools should be developed to address these needs.

The current treatment options for NETs are limited. Recent studies (http://www.newyork-journal.com/stories/neuroendocrine-tumors) have yielded clues to better understanding cancer treatment and the management of NETs. Current research is focusing on the identification of biomarkers of response to particular treatment regimens, and new therapeutic options that can target tumor cell signaling pathways.

The treatment for metastatic pheochromocytoma was superior to treatment with a placebo. The treatment group did not have an advantage compared with patients receiving a sham mifepristone treatment.

Most recent clinical trials were conducted in solid tumors. There were two trials focusing on the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), one with sunitinib and another with erlotinib (both tyrosine kinase inhibitors), which were both stopped early by the FDA. Other studies were conducted with targeted therapy, such as immunotherapy and gene therapy targeting KIT, MUC1, or CTLA4 in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Most therapies, however, are in early clinical trials and have not yet been tested systematically for treatment in neuroendocrine tumors. There are, however, a handful of promising approaches.