| BREAKING NEWSNEW RELIEF FOR PATIENTS DEBILITATED BY CARCINOID SYNDROME
The FDA has approved a new oral therapy called XERMELO™ (telotristat ethyl) for patients experiencing carcinoid syndrome diarrhea. Patients’ symptoms can be frequent and severe—disrupting daily activities—even increasing the risk for heart valve damage over time. XERMELO targets enzymes in NET cancer cells that over produce serotonin.
“The approval of XERMELO establishes a new treatment option for patients whose carcinoid syndrome diarrhea is inadequately controlled by somatostatin analog (SSA) therapy,” said Matthew H. Kulke, MD, primary investigator in clinical trials of the drug, Director of the Program in Neuroendocrine and Carcinoid Tumors at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that XERMELO can reduce the debilitating effects of carcinoid syndrome diarrhea and has a favorable efficacy and safety profile in patients who currently have limited treatment options.”
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EXPLORING THE USE OF IMMUNOTHERAPY IN NETS
NETRF is pleased to announce awards for world-class research to explore the potential of immunotherapy in NETs. This rapidly expanding class of therapies has proven successful in treating melanoma, lung cancer, and bladder cancer, but little research has been devoted to NETs. Three new NETRF-sponsored studies by principal investigators Tim Meyer, MD, PhD, Matthew Kulke, MD, and Daniel Halperin, MD, will explore critical questions on the use of immunotherapy in NETs. READ MORE
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WELCOME NETRF'S NEW DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
As Director of Research for the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF), Effie Tzameli, Ph.D. is responsible for developing and implementing NETRF’s research strategy and advancing the foundation’s research portfolio. As a representative of NETRF, Effie interacts with scientists in the field to promote the organization’s mission, foster collaborative relationships, and attract new researchers to the field.
“I am very excited to join NETRF and contribute to the mission of the Foundation”, says Dr. Tzameli. “I am committed to working towards finding and funding innovative and cutting-edge research to help decipher the molecular underpinnings of neuroendocrine tumors”.
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BAY AREA NET CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Conference Videos Online by March 8th
The Sixth Annual Bay Area NET Patient Education Conference was hosted by the Stanford Cancer Center and the NET Research Foundation, in cooperation with UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the NorCal CarciNET Community on Saturday, February 4th. The conference featured expert perspectives on neuroendocrine cancer research and treatment. More than 270 attendees joined the conference in person, while an additional 500 viewers, from 19 different countries, joined on the livestream.
Conference presentations included the latest information on symptom management, nuclear medicine imaging and treatment, clinical trials, inherited NET syndromes, lung and thymic NETs, and tumor board cases. Other speakers discussed helpful diagnostic and treatment resources for patients. READ MORE
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NEW DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING PEPTIDE RECEPTOR RADIONUCLIDE THERAPY (PRRT)
Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) is a nuclear medicine therapy for the systemic treatment of metastasized neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). The results of the first randomized phase III study regarding the efficacy and safety of the radiolabeled somatostatin receptor analogue (SSA) lutetium-177 ((177Lu)–Dotatate, Lutathera)) were published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. READ MORE
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UPCOMING PATIENT EDUCATION CONFERENCE -HELP NETRF
Help Us to Identify Where You Are Most Interested in Attending a Conference
The NET Research Foundation is committed to supporting patients and their families by providing the most up-to-date information and resources. We conduct multiple national Neuroendocrine Cancer Patient and Caregiver Educational Conferences annually and we would like your help to identify where you are most interested in attending an educational conference. TAKE THE SURVEY HERE
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THE NEUROENDOCRINE TUMOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH PATTERN .ORG TO ENABLE PATIENTS TO DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TISSUE SAMPLES TO RESEARCH PROJECTS
The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation is excited to be working with Pattern.org to empower patients to direct their excess cancer tissue samples to research projects. Initially, samples donated via Pattern.org will be sent to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (www.broadinstitute.org), where they will be used to attempt to develop research models.
The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation’s partnership with Pattern.org and the Broad Institute is part of a larger effort to establish and genetically characterize cancer cell lines, which are cancer cells that keep dividing and growing over time, under certain conditions in a laboratory. In developing these cancer cell lines, the Broad Institute is trying to enable the scientific community to improve our understanding of cancer, including neuroendocrine tumors. READ MORE
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| We are pleased to announce that this eUpdate
is sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation.
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