New Radiotracer Can Identify Nearly 30 Types of Cancer – SNMMI – 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT
Updated 17th March 2023 When I wrote about this new PET in June 2019, it was for interest only, but I curiously noted the existence of "NET" in the list of 28 cancers. It is designed to compete with FDG PET. The study comes from a joint China/Singapore initiative. This update now confirms it could be more efficient than FDG for those types of cancer where FDG is the optimum imaging. Headline "A new radiotracer, 68Ga-FAP-2286, has been found to be more effective than the most commonly used nuclear medicine cancer imaging radiotracer, 18F-FDG. In a study published in the March issue…
LUTATHERA (PRRT) – Clinical Trial for Grade 2/Grade 3 Patients Advanced GEP-NET (NETTER-2)
FINAL TRIAL RESULTS PUBLISHED 19TH JAN 2024Read more by clicking here.Original blog below. Brief Summary- The NETTER-1 trials led to the approval of Lu177 (or Lutathera), more commonly known in the community as Peptide Receptor Radio Therapy (PRRT). This led to an explosion of availability across the world but many gaps in service remain.Many PRRT spin off trials are in the pipeline looking at different types of PRRT, mainly using slightly different radionuclides and techniques. However, NETTER-2 builds on the success of the approved version formally known as Lutathera.The aim of NETTER-2 is to determine if Lutathera in combination with long-acting…
Clinical Trial: Treatment of IBS with diarrhoea – titrated ondansetron (TRITON)
I was never diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) but sometimes I feel like I now have it. I know many others feel the same way. But when I look at the alternatives, I can't help thinking it's a small price to pay given that one of them might be a slow degrading quality of life until shuffling off this mortal coil. If I had the choice again, I would still take the surgery. Before the article continues, let me be clear - I'm not suggesting this is a potential treatment for NET patients with post abdominal surgery side effects…
Clinical Trial: Lenvatinib Efficacy in Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (TALENT)
"Interestingly, the ORR in pancreatic NETs was 44%, a rate not seen before with targeted agents," Jonathan Strosberg, MD, head of the neuroendocrine tumor division at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa Tweet Lenvatinib has completed a Phase 2 trial in Gastrointestinal (GI) and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours. The trial was sponsored by Grupo Espanol de Tumores Neuroendocrinos (Spanish NET scientific organisation) and the manufacturers. A European venture with sites in Austria, Italy, Spain, UK. Headline: The responses are better than Everolimus (Afinitor) and Sunitinib (Sutent).What is Lenvatinib?It is a type of targeted therapy known as a multikinase inhibitor. The brand…
Clinical Trial: Intra-arterial Lu177 (PRRT) for Neuroendocrine Cancer liver metastases (LUTIA)
Neuroendocrine Cancer - Intra Arterial - situated or occurring within, administered into, or involving entry by way of an artery.The treatment of liver metastasis is a common approach following a metastatic diagnosis or discovery of liver metastasis downstream via re-staging. In addition to surgery, there are several liver directed therapies available via embolization techniques. This comes in several flavours:1. Bland liver embolization - a minimally invasive technique which simply blocks the blood supply to the liver tumours in an attempt to reduce or kill those tumours. Sometimes called Hepatic Arterial Embolization or HAE.2. Chemotherapy liver embolization - as above but…
Clinical Trial SPARTALIZUMAB – Immunotherapy for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (PDR001)
UpdateTrial complete. Conclusion abstract - Single agent PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have not demonstrated clinical utility in an unselected NET population and should not be used outside of clinical trials. The potential for PD-L1 inhibition in the thoracic cohort warrants further investigation. Read more here. PDR001 (anti-PD-1) is an investigational immunotherapy being developed by Novartis to treat both solid tumors and lymphomas (cancers of the blood). It is currently being trialled on many cancers including Neuroendocrine. Its brand name is SPARTLIZUMAB.How PDR001 worksPDR001 is a type of immunotherapy, meaning that it acts by activating the body’s own immune system to recognize and fight…
Breath test with the goal of detecting multiple cancers – ready to start trials
While it's a long way off becoming reality, this is quite an exciting clinical trial. I have no idea if it will pick up Neuroendocrine disease but initially, patients with suspected oesophageal and stomach cancers will be asked to try the test. Later it will be extended to include prostate, kidney, bladder, liver and pancreatic cancers. It's possible that Neuroendcorine tumours in these locations might be picked up or at least show up some abnormality that triggers further checks. The fact that Cancer Research UK is involved gives me some confidence as they tend to back the strong horses. I…
Q-Sphera™ – Next Generation Somatostatin Analogue delivery system?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email UPDATE: In March 2020, the decision was taken to terminate further in-house development of the MTD201 programme with immediate effect although the asset remains available for licensing. All activities connected with MTD201 have been wound down expeditiously and the manufacturing facilities in Bilbao have been closed. Following the termination of in-house development of MTD201, the Company realigned its strategy towards exploiting its Q-Sphera technology more broadly.Original Article belowIn my article listing the somatostatin analogues and their drug delivery systems pipeline (click…
Neuroendocrine Cancer – Short Update from NANETS 2018
I would love to go to a NANETS conference but I would need sponsorship or otherwise have to fund my own way there. Seattle sounds like a great place to visit. I would even have been their twitter correspondent had they asked! I've been to the European equivalent twice, they always have theirs in Barcelona it would seem, at least NANETS uses different locations making it more interesting. It's a scientific conference for the most part, but I guess some basic stuff is also covered. However, in the world of instant contact and communications on the internet, together with twitter,…
Detectnet™ (64Cu-DOTATATE) – an expansion of the Somatostatin Receptor PET Imaging for Neuroendocrine Cancer
Edit 21st January 2021. The imaging time window of 64Cu-DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms can be expanded from one hour to three hours post-injection, according to new research published in the January 2021 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Read more here Edit 4th September 2020. 64Cu-dotatate now named Detectnet™ is approved for use by US FDA. Majority read revealed Detectnet had over 98% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and over 96% specificity to confirm or exclude presence of disease. Read more here. Edit 14th July 2020. Expanded Access Program via clinical trial now recruiting -…
Clinical trial of 177Lu-DOTA-EB-TATE – Long-lasting radionuclide therapy for advanced neuroendocrine tumors
Update April 2023There is now an interventional Phase 1 clinical trial of this PRRT variant happening in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, United States, 10065, contact Contact: Lisa Bodei, MD, PhDThe clinical trial document is here NCT05475210 - this is a small trial (9 participants) and make sure you check the exclusion and inclusion criteria. Click here:177Lu-DOTA-EB-TATE in Untreated (Naïve) Adult Patients With Advanced, Well- Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.govIn the NewsUpdate in March 2021. Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc. (MTTI), a clinical stage radiopharmaceutical therapy company, announced the approval of an Investigational…
Sapanisertib – a drug on trial for Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET) with a pancreatic primary
Researchers are testing the drug Sapanisertib to see if it can halt the progression of pancreatic NETs (pNETs) which cannot be surgically removed, have not responded to other treatment, and have spread to other parts of the body. What is Sapanisertib? Sapanisertib is one of a group of targeted therapy drugs that interferes with tumor progression by inhibiting an enzyme known as mTOR which a tumor cell needs for growth. In fact this is the same technique used in Afinitor (Everolimus), already approved for NETs. It is also being tested in a number of different advanced cancers, including bladder, kidney, breast,…
Neuroendocrine Cancer Clinical Trial: Advanced Oncology Formula enterade®
Diarrhea is a huge subject for NET patients, whether it's caused by the tumour itself (i.e. a syndrome), due to treatment, knock on effects of treatment, or some other reason, it can dramatically limit qualify of life. Working out the root cause can be problematic even for medical teams. I wrote about these issues before in my article Neuroendocrine Cancer - the diarrhea jigsaw. So when I saw the data from a trial of something called enterade®, I was immediately drawn to investigate. I don't normally write articles on over the counter commercial products but this one is an exception…
ASCO 2017 – Let’s talk about NETs #ASCO17
ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) is one of the biggest cancer conferences in the world normally bringing together more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field. As Neuroendorine Tumors is on a roll in terms of new treatments and continued research, we appear to be well represented with over 20 'extracts' submitted for review and display. This is fairly complex stuff but much of it will be familiar to many. I've filtered and extracted all the Neuroendocrine stuff into one list providing you with an…
All you need to know about Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)
Updated 21st August 2025 Short PRRT Primer What is Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)? What is PRRT? PRRT stands for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy, an FDA-approved therapy used for systemic treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. Peptide refers to the small molecule for this therapy. The Peptide used (e.g. DOTATATE or DOTATOC or DOTANOC) is very similar to Somatostatin, a hormone which binds to receptors found on neuroendocrine tumors. Receptor refers to a specific target on neuroendocrine tumor cells that the peptide attaches to. After the peptide joins with a Receptor, it becomes attached and enters the targeted tumor cell. Radionuclide refers to radioactive atom that is attached to the peptide.…
Theranostics for Neuroendocrine Cancer – A Find and Destroy Mission
Theranostics is a joining of the words therapeutics and diagnostics. You may also see it conveyed as 'Theragnostics' and these terms are interchangeable. The basic aim of theranotistics is to find and then destroy the 'bad guys'. With Neuroendocrine Cancer, finding the tumours (the bad guys) can often be a challenge - they can be small and/or difficult to find - they are sometimes expert at camouflage. Moreover, once found, they can then be difficult to treat (destroy), as they can often prove resistant to conventional cancer drugs and many are inoperable due to sheer quantity, spread and positioning. When…
Clinical Trial: PRRT and Chemo combination therapy
Update 2022: Trial complete. Results:The final results of this trial were presented at ASCO 2022 where it was concluded as follows:"CONTROL NETs is the first randomized trial to demonstrate efficacy for PRRT in pNETs, in addition to a standard of care. Extended follow up confirms durable CAPTEM/PRRT activity, with superior PFS in pNETs. Late haematologic toxicity was seen in both mNET PRRT arms but was not higher with additional CAPTEM. The activity of CAPTEM/PRRT in pNETs should be tested in the phase III setting" - click here to read the abstract. Combination treatments are common in chemotherapy, but this trial was…
Somatostatin Analogues and delivery methods in the pipeline
NOTE - THIS IS IN NEED OF AN UPDATE AND IS ON MY LIST OF THINGS TO DOThis is my live blog post covering new developments in the area of new Somatostatin Analogues and new delivery systems. AbstractAs most of you will be aware, there are currently two main types of Somatostatin Analogues (SSA) in use for the treatment of mainstream Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) - Octreotide and Lanreotide. You can click on the links for information on both of these well-known NET treatments. This post will focus on the not so well known and anything in the pipeline including different delivery…