| [ Summary ] |
Multiple options are available for the medical therapies of patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs), including biotherapy and molecular targeted agents. As biotherapies, somatostatin analogs, such as lanreotide or octreotide, are mainly indicated in hormonally active tumors to ameliorate symptoms. In addition, the anti-tumoral activity of lanreotide has been demonstrated in well-differentiated NETs. As the efficacy of molecular targeted agents, everolimus and sunitinib, in the treatment of patients with advanced PNETs has been proven by large placebo-controlled phase III trials, future studies are needed to individualize and optimize medical therapy selection because there are no definitively proven predictive biomarkers to evaluate response to medical therapies in patients with PanNET. |