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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Horm Metab Res 2022; 54(12): 795-812
DOI: 10.1055/a-1908-7790
Review

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Neuroendocrine Tumors

Sriram Gubbi 
1   Endocrinology, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, United States
,
Namrata Vijayvergia
2   Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, United States
,
Jian Q Yu
3   Nuclear Medicine, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, United States
,
Joanna Klubo-Gwiezdzinska    *
4   National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
,
Christian A. Koch   *
5   Medicine/Endocrinology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, United States
6   Medicine, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, United States
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Abstract

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) occur in various regions of the body and present with complex clinical and biochemical phenotypes. The molecular underpinnings that give rise to such varied manifestations have not been completely deciphered. The management of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) involves surgery, locoregional therapy, and/or systemic therapy. Several forms of systemic therapy, including platinum-based chemotherapy, temozolomide/capecitabine, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy have been extensively studied and implemented in the treatment of NETs. However, the potential of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy as an option in the management of NETs has only recently garnered attention. Till date, it is not clear whether ICI therapy holds any distinctive advantage in terms of efficacy or safety when compared to other available systemic therapies for NETs. Identifying the characteristics of NETs that would make them (better) respond to ICIs has been challenging. This review provides a summary of the current evidence on the value of ICI therapy in the management of ICIs and discusses the potential areas for future research.

Key words

neuroendocrine tumor - immunotherapy - somatostatin analogues - medullary thyroid carcinoma - MTC - pheochromocytoma - paraganglioma

* * Co-senior authors




Publication History

Received: 30 June 2022

Accepted after revision: 25 July 2022

Accepted Manuscript online:
25 July 2022

Article published online:
02 September 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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