Outcome of treating advanced neuroendocrine tumours with radiolabelled somatostatin analogues

Objectives  To evaluate the initial response and outcomes (quality of life and presence of side effects) in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumours (NET) after treatment with radiolabelled somatostatin analogues: ⁹⁰Y-DOTAT-yr3-octreotide (⁹⁰Y-DOTATOC) and ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTA-Tyr3- octreotate (¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE). Material and methods  The study included 5 patients with advanced NET referred to European centres for treatment with ⁹⁰Y-DOTATOC and ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE after lack of response to conventional treatment. The mean age was 45.6 years (29-68 years). Response to therapy was assessed according to: (1) RECIST criteria, as complete response, partial response, stable disease or disease progression, (2) post-treatment survival time and (3) quality of life, using the Karnofsky performance index. Results  All patients survived for >20 months after treatment; mean survival time was 28 months. At the time of writing, three of the patients are alive after 20, 26 and 37 months. Partial response was observed in one patient, stable disease in three and disease progression in the fifth patient. A good-to-excellent post-treatment quality of life was observed in all patients. Conclusion  Therapy with radiolabelled somatostatin analogues showed promising results in patients with advanced NET, with a partial response or disease stabilisation in four of the five patients, who have enjoyed an extended survival period and an improved quality of life.