If you’ve been diagnosed with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, or GEP-NETs, you may at some point be told by your care team that your cancer is progressing. GEP-NETs are tumors that form in the gastrointestinal tract and release hormones.
“I think it’s always really difficult to hear that your disease is progressing,” says Kimberly Perez, MD, Medical Oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Cancer progression means that your GEP-NET is growing, spreading to other areas, or causing new symptoms. The main goal in this case may be to contain the tumor’s growth, according to Perez.
What are the options if your GEP-NET is progressing?
The first line of treatment for many people with GEP-NETs is a medication called somatostatin analogs. These help to slow the growth of your tumor cells. They can also help relieve some of the symptoms caused by excess hormones released by GEP-NETs, such as diarrhea, flushing, or heart palpitations.
When somatostatin analogs aren’t enough to control GEP-NETs growth, there are other treatments available to try. These include:
Chemotherapy: This treatment involves taking medication that will target rapidly-dividing cancer cells.
Targeted therapy: These medications target cells based on a specific gene or protein located on the tumor cells.
Radioligand therapy: This treatment involves taking medication that targets cancer cells that have proteins called somatostatin receptors.
“Really, the choice is dependent on where your disease is located, what symptoms you’re having from your disease, and how quickly it’s growing,” says Perez. “But I want to reassure you that there are many options that will be considered.”
She adds that, if one initial treatment isn’t successful at stopping the growth or spread of GEP-NETs, it doesn’t mean that the next treatment you try won’t work.
“We have so many other treatments that can be considered that I wouldn’t want anyone to lose hope,” she says.
Kimberly Perez, MD, is a Medical Oncologist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.
References
American Cancer Society. (n.d.). Treating pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Chan, J. A., et al. (2023). Metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: Local options to control tumor growth and symptoms of hormone hypersecretion. UpToDate.
Cives, M., et al. (2018). Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Guide to Pharmacology. (n.d.). Somatostatin receptors: Introduction.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration. (2018). FDA approves new treatment for certain digestive tract cancers.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration. (2022). LUTATHERA [package insert].
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