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Sunitinib shrinks NET-G3 pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

  • Original Article – Clinical Oncology
  • Published:
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The 2017 revised World Health Organization classification of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms classified conventional G3 tumors into well-differentiated (NET-G3) and poorly differentiated (NEC-G3) tumors. However, guidelines for selection of drug therapy were not established in the 2017 revision. This study aimed to elucidate the rates of maximum tumor reduction of sunitinib, progression-free survival, and overall survival in the new classification.

Methods

We investigated the reduction rate over time using computed tomography for 60 patients with unresectable or distant metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms who received 37.5 mg of sunitinib in our department from April 2013 to November 2017.

Results

Of the 60 cases, 42, 10, and 5 were NET-G1/G2, NET-G3, and NEC-G3, respectively. The prognostic factors were analyzed according to clinicopathological factors using the Cox hazard model. The median observation period was 19 months, and the median duration of sunitinib administration was 7 months. The median maximum reduction rate of sunitinib was 18.3%. Tumor response was classified according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors: 20 cases (33.3%) showed partial response, 29 cases (48.3%) showed stable disease, and 11 cases (18.3%) showed progressive disease. In a multivariate analysis of factors contributing to progression-free survival from the start of sunitinib administration, only histologically poor differentiation was a significant factor (p = 0.010). Progression-free survival and overall survival were significantly better in patients with NET-G3 than that in patients with NEC-G3 (p = 0.005, p = 0.012), while it was not different between those with NET-G3 and those with NET-G1/2.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that sunitinib is as effective for NET-G3 as for NET-G1/2.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) Grant Number 15K10046.

Funding

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) Grant number 15K10046.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8519, Japan

    Yuki Mizuno, Atsushi Kudo, Keiichi Akahoshi, Toshiro Ogura, Kosuke Ogawa, Hiroaki Ono, Yusuke Mitsunori, Daisuke Ban & Minoru Tanabe

  2. Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

    Takumi Akashi

  3. Department of Molecular Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

    Shinji Tanaka

  4. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

    Ukihide Tateishi

Authors
  1. Yuki Mizuno
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  2. Atsushi Kudo
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  3. Takumi Akashi
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  4. Keiichi Akahoshi
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  5. Toshiro Ogura
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  6. Kosuke Ogawa
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  7. Hiroaki Ono
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  8. Yusuke Mitsunori
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  9. Daisuke Ban
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  10. Shinji Tanaka
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  11. Ukihide Tateishi
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  12. Minoru Tanabe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Atsushi Kudo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author Yuki Mizuno declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Atsushi Kudo declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Takumi Akashi declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Keiichi Akahoshi declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Toshiro Ogura declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Kosuke Ogawa declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Hiroaki Ono declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Yusuke Mitsunori declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Daisuke Ban declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Shinji Tanaka declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Ukihide Tateishi declares that he has no conflict of interest. The author Minoru Tanabe declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The procedures were approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Approval ID: 1080). This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Mizuno, Y., Kudo, A., Akashi, T. et al. Sunitinib shrinks NET-G3 pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 144, 1155–1163 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-018-2636-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-018-2636-2

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