29Jul 2019 by Ronny Allan No Comments
Clinical Trials – Surufatinib for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Clinical Trials – Surufatinib for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Clinical Trials, Technical NETs
I first heard about this drug at ENETS Barcelona 2017 and then again in 2018.  It's now starting to be discussed in USA including at the 2019 ASCO conference. It was known then as Sulfatinib but for reasons unclear to me it was changed later to Surufatinib. It's a novel, oral angio-immuno kinase inhibitor that selectively inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity (TKI) associated with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), which both inhibit angiogenesis, and colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R), which regulates tumor-associated macrophages, promoting the body’s immune response against tumor cells.  Its unique dual mechanism of action may be very suitable for possible combinations with other immunotherapies.  Surufatinib, manufactured by Hutchinson China MediTech Ltd (Chi-Med), is in proof-of-concept clinical trials in the USA and…
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22Jan 2019 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Clinical Trial: Lenvatinib Efficacy in Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (TALENT)

Clinical Trial: Lenvatinib Efficacy in Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (TALENT)

Clinical Trials, Technical NETs
Lenvatinib has just 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 name is 'LENVIMA'. These work by inhibiting multiple intracellular and cell surface kinases, some of which are implicated in tumour growth and metastatic progression of cancer, thus decreasing tumour growth and replication. A range of receptor kinases are involved in these processes, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), stem cell factor (c-KIT), Flt3, fibroblast…
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16Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Diabetes – The NET Effect

Diabetes – The NET Effect

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Technical NETs
My chest infection is now settled, as too is the excitement and apprehension behind my first ever Ga68 PET - the outcome of that is still a work in progress. Earlier this year, my thyroid 'lesion' on watch and wait was given a 'damping down' with the prescription of a thyroid hormone supplement but I await a re-ignition of that small bush fire downstream. Bubbling behind the scenes and clamoring for attention is the spiking of my blood glucose test results and I was very recently declared 'at risk' for diabetes One of my followers entitled a post in my group with "The hits keep coming" in reference to encountering yet another problem in the journey with Neuroendocrine Cancer. I now know how she feels, this issue is a bit…
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11Apr 2018 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Sapanisertib – a drug on trial for Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET) with a pancreatic primary

Sapanisertib – a drug on trial for Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET) with a pancreatic primary

Clinical Trials, Technical NETs, Treatment
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, liver, and certain types of lung cancers, among others. The Clinical Trial The primary goal of the phase II study is to evaluate how well pNET tumors respond to Sapanisertib.…
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12Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Update: Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors

Update: Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Technical NETs, Treatment
This is an excellent and positive video based overview of where we are with the Management of NETs.  This is a presentation from a NET Specialist (who some of you may know) presenting to a "GI Malignancies" conference.  This is therefore not only awareness of NETs, it's also some good education for non NET GI experts who may only know the very basics. Useful for patients too!  I met Dr Strosberg in Barcelona (ENETS 2017) and thanked him for his presentational and scientific paper output which I often use in my articles. The classification picture is good as it explains the different facets of NETs and how NETs are classified and categorised in a general way - not seen it done this way before.   Slightly out of date as…
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07Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Expanding PRRT – Trial of 177Lu-Edotreotide (Solucin®) – COMPETE Phase 3 Clinical Trial

Expanding PRRT – Trial of 177Lu-Edotreotide (Solucin®) – COMPETE Phase 3 Clinical Trial

Technical NETs, Treatment
[caption id="attachment_11708" align="alignnone" width="856"] graphic courtesy of ITM AG[/caption] In the News. On the heels of the approval of PRRT in USA and whilst we all wait on positive national announcements of PRRT approval in UK and elsewhere, here's news of a new PRRT compound undergoing a phase 3 clinical trial.  Isotopen Technologien München AG (ITM), a specialized radiopharmaceutical company, today announced the enrolment of the first patient recruited in Europe for the COMPETE phase III clinical trial at the University Hospital Marburg, Germany. The CEO of ITM said "This marks the starting point of COMPETE in Europe, whereby we expect a rapid increase in the number of recruits.”  I actually met these guys at ENETS 2018 - sounds great. What is the COMPETE trial? COMPETE is led as an international…
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08Aug 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments
Lanreotide for Lung NETs – SPINET Clinical Trial

Lanreotide for Lung NETs – SPINET Clinical Trial

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Technical NETs, Treatment
[caption id="attachment_4495" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Somatuline (Lanreotide)[/caption] There's been a lot of action in the area of what is termed Gastro-Entero-Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (GEP-NETs).  It can therefore sometimes appear that Lung NETs are the poor relation.  There are certainly some unmet needs in this area of the anatomy including a lack of research.  Thus far, no prospective trials specifically for patients with lung NETs appear to have been reported. However, there has been some recent movement. Last year, the use of Afinitor (Everolimus) was approved for progressive, non-functional NET of GI or Lung origin. SPINET Trial for Lung NETs In late 2016, I tipped you off about an Ipsen sponsored trial for Lung NETs involving Lanreotide (Somatuline).  SPINET is a Phase 3, prospective, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, study evaluating the efficacy and…
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06Apr 2017 by Ronny Allan No Comments
Don’t believe the hype – Neuroendocrine Cancer Myths debunked

Don’t believe the hype – Neuroendocrine Cancer Myths debunked

Awareness, Diet and Nutrition, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment
  OPINION. There's a lot of inaccurate and out of date information out there.  Some is just a lack of understanding, often with a combination of patient forum myth spreading. Some can only be described as propaganda. Myth 1:  All Neuroendocrine Tumours are benign Not true.  By any scientific definition, the word 'tumour' means 'an abnormal mass of tissue that results when cells divide more than they should or do not die when they should. Tumours may be benign (not cancerous), or malignant (cancerous)'.  Sure, some NETs will be benign.  However, The World Health Organisation (WHO) 2010 classification for digestive system is based on the concept that all NETs have malignant potential, and has therefore abandoned the division into benign and malignant NETs and tumours of uncertain malignant potential.  This has been…
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21Feb 2017 by Ronny Allan No Comments
Recent Progress in NET Management – Positive presentation from Jonathan R Strosberg MD

Recent Progress in NET Management – Positive presentation from Jonathan R Strosberg MD

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Technical NETs, Treatment
I recently wrote a blog called Neuroendocrine Cancer – Exciting Times Ahead! I wrote that on a day I was feeling particularly positive and at the time, I wanted to share that positivity with you. I genuinely believe there's a lot of great things happening. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot still to be done, particularly in the area of diagnosis and quality of life after being diagnosed. However, this is a really great message from a well-known NET expert. In an interview with OncLive, Jonathan R. Strosberg, MD, associate professor at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida, discussed his presentation on NETs at a recent 2016 Symposium, and shed light on the progress that has been made in this treatment landscape. OncLive: Please highlight some of the main points from your…
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21Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment
Neuroendocrine Tumor Drug Clinical Trial – Cabozantinib (includes news on Pheochromoctyoma and Paraganglioma)

Neuroendocrine Tumor Drug Clinical Trial – Cabozantinib (includes news on Pheochromoctyoma and Paraganglioma)

Clinical Trials, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment
What is Cabozantinib? Cabozantinib is an oral drug which works by blocking the growth of new blood vessels that feed a tumour. In addition to blocking the formation of new blood cells in tumours, Cabozantinib also blocks pathways that may be responsible for allowing cancers cells to become resistant to other "anti-angiogenic" drugs. It is a type of drug called a growth blocker.  Cabozantinib has been studied or is already in research studies as a possible treatment for various types of cancer, including prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, brain cancer, thyroid cancer, lung cancer, and kidney cancer. During my research, I found that it has a connection to Medullary Thyroid Cancer (MTC) which is a type of Neuroendocrine Cancer, frequently associated with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN).  Cabozantinib, under the brand name of…
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23Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan 12 Comments
Chemo or not Chemo – that is the question 

Chemo or not Chemo – that is the question 

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Technical NETs, Treatment
I'm continually seeing certain drugs for treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) described as chemotherapy. I think there must be some confusion with more modern drugs which are more targeted and work in a different way to Chemotherapy. I researched several sites and they all tend to provide a summary of chemotherapy which is worded like this:  Chemotherapy means: a treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer medicines called cytotoxic drugs.  Cytotoxic medicines are poisonous (toxic) to cancer cells. They kill cancer cells or stop them from multiplying. Different cytotoxic medicines do this in different ways. However, they all tend to work by interfering with some aspect of how the cells divide and multiply. Two or more cytotoxic medicines are often used in a course of chemotherapy, each with a different way of working. This may give a better…
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02Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments
Neuroendocrine Cancer – Exciting Times Ahead!  

Neuroendocrine Cancer – Exciting Times Ahead!  

Inspiration, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment
In the last 12-24 months, there seems to have been announcement after announcement of new and/or upgraded/enhanced diagnostics and treatment types for Neuroendocrine Cancer.  Scans, radionuclide therapies, combination therapies, somatostatin analogues, biological therapies, etc.  Some of the announcements are just expansions of existing therapies having been approved in new (but significant) regions. Compared to some other cancers, even those which hit the headlines often, we appear to be doing not too badly.  However, the pressure needs to stay on, all patients need access to the best diagnostics and treatments for them; and at the requisite time.  There's even more in the pipeline and I'm hoping to continue to bring you news of new stuff as I have been doing for the last year. Some of these new diagnostics and treatments will benefit eligible patients who are…
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10Jan 2016 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments
Clinical Trial: Neuroendocrine Cancer drug in the pipeline – Fosbretabulin Tromethamine CA4P (incl combo with Everolimus)

Clinical Trial: Neuroendocrine Cancer drug in the pipeline – Fosbretabulin Tromethamine CA4P (incl combo with Everolimus)

Technical NETs, Treatment
[caption id="attachment_8939" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Click this picture to see how VDAs work[/caption] {NEW} added 4 June 2019 From ASCO 2019 conference extract: Of the 17 patients enrolled, 16 completed the 12-week trial. One patient was not evaluable due to noncompliance. No DLTs were observed at day 21. The highest dose of 10 mg daily oral everolimus in combination with weekly 60mg/m2 IV fosbretabulin is the RP2D. No grade 4 or 5 toxicities were noted. Grade 3 toxicities were seen in 5 patients; abdominal pain and hyperglycemia (not related to study drug), fatigue (possibly related), decreased lymphocyte count and anemia (related). Several patients had delay in treatment due to grade 2 AE’s (GI symptoms, rash, thrombocytopenia) and one patient was unable to complete treatment due to pneumonitis. All evaluable patients except…
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07Sep 2015 by Ronny Allan 11 Comments

PRRT and the NHS England Cancer Drugs Fund

Treatment
[caption id="attachment_3922" align="aligncenter" width="425"] cost cutting vs life cutting?[/caption] As of 4 Nov 15, PRRT was delisted from the NHS England Cancer Drugs Fund. Appeals were made but were rejected, despite the glowing results from the NETTER-1 trial.  Although a replacement system is now in place, PRRT remains barred from routine NHS use. Please see the following post for the very latest on PRRT worldwide - CLICK HERE I was extremely disappointed to learn of the decision to remove PRRT (Lutetium or Yttrium) from the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) as reported by the NET Patient Foundation. You can read the detail of the decision here: CDF Statement.  PRRT has regularly been described by NET specialists and patients as the "magic bullet" due to its potential to shrink or kill tumours. This is the…
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26Apr 2015 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments
Chemotherapy for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Chemotherapy for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Awareness, Technical NETs, Treatment
Chemotherapy and Neuroendocrine Cancer One of the unusual aspects of Neuroendocrine Cancer is that chemotherapy is not normally considered as a 'standard' treatment unlike many other cancers. One exception is high grade (Grade 3) where it is often a first and/or second line therapy.  Poorly differentiated Neuroendocrine disease is normally labelled as Neuroendocrine Carcinoma (NEC) but worth pointing out there is now a Grade 3 well differentiated classification known as a 'Grade 3 NET' rather than Grade 3 NEC. Depending on Ki67 score, there could be differing treatment options for Grade 3 NET and Grade 3 NEC.  Read more in my articles Staging and Grading and High Grade. Many people think Chemotherapy has a short life span due to recent advances in medical science, some citing Immunotherapy as it's replacement.…
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