Survival and Response After Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy With [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]Octreotide in Patients With Advanced Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Because the role of chemotherapy, interferon, or somatostatin analogs as antiproliferative agents is uncertain, currently few treatment options exist for patients with metastatic or inoperable gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET). Fifty-eight patients with somatostatin receptor-positive GEP-NET were treated in a phase I dose-escalating study with cumulative doses of 47 mCi to 886 mCi of the radiolabeled somatostatin analog [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]-octreotide. At baseline, 47 patients had progressive disease, and 36 were symptomatic. The extent of disease was: 4 patients without liver metastases and 52 patients with liver metastases, including 16 patients with very advanced disease, qualified as “end-stage,” and 2 end-stage patients without liver metastases. The objective responses were 5 partial response (PR), 7 minor response (MR), 29 stable disease (SD), and 17 PD. Overall, 33 patients (57%) experienced some improvement in their disease status, including conversion from PD into SD and improvement from SD into MR. Accordingly, 21 of 36 patients (58%) had improvement in Karnofsky performance score or symptoms. The median overall survival (OS) was 36.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 19.4-54.1 months). The median progression-free survival in 41 patients who had at least stable disease at the end of the treatment period was 29.3 months (95% CI 19.3-39.3 months). Patients who had SD at baseline had a significantly better OS than patients who had PD at baseline. The extent of disease at baseline also was a significant predictive factor for OS. The OS after therapy with [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]-octreotide was significantly better than in a historic control group of 32 comparable patients with GEP-NET who had been treated with another radiolabeled somatostatin analog, [111In-DTPA0]-octreotide (median OS 12.0 months, 95% CI 6.2-17.8 months). The difference in OS for both therapies remained highly significant in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model including progression status and extent of disease at baseline as covariates. Although the objective response after therapy with [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]-octreotide by standard criteria seems modest, the significantly longer OS compared with historic controls is most encouraging.