A New Therapy for Advanced Refractory Neuroendocrine Cancer

Patients with neuroendocrine carcinoma who experience disease progression on somatostatin analogue therapy have limited treatment options. This is particularly true for those with carcinoid tumors. Although some novel targeted agents have demonstrated effectiveness, including everolimus for carcinoid tumors, the prognosis for patients with refractory disease remains poor.

Now, investigators have conducted an industry-funded, international, randomized, open-label, phase III trial (NETTER-1) to test the efficacy and safety of radiolabeled somatostatin analogue therapy with lutetium-177 (¹⁷⁷Lu)–Dotatate in 221 patients with metastatic midgut neuroendocrine carcinoma and disease progression while receiving octreotide long-acting repeatable (LAR;…