A clinical trial shows the effectiveness of the therapy against a specific type of pancreatic tumor.

A clinical study in which scientists from Institute of Oncology Val d’Hebron (VHIO) revealed the effectiveness of therapy in stopping the growth of neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract.

The study, presented this Friday at Gastrointestinal Cancer Congress American Society of Medical Oncology in San Francisco (USA), focuses on radioligand targeted therapy, which uses radiation to treat tumor cells with minimal toxicity to healthy cells.

Researchers tested these radiotracers on patients with common gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Neuroendocrine tumors are a type of cancer that arises in neuroendocrine cells throughout the body, which are responsible for releasing hormones into the blood in response to nervous system stimuli.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (in the pancreas or other parts of the gastrointestinal tract) are considered malignant but slow growing although some have rapid progression and poor prognosis and are diagnosed at advanced stages.

The results of a new study show that if this therapy is used as a first-line treatment, improves progression-free survival in newly diagnosed patients, resulting in increased time during and after treatment during which the cancer does not grow or spread further.

The study involved 226 patients who were newly diagnosed with this type of advanced tumor, grades 2 and 3.

Participants who received a radiopharmaceutical They reached 22.8 months without progression, compared with 8.5 months for patients taking it.

This study is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of this therapy and was presented this Friday at the American Society of Medical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancer Congress, which runs from January 18 to 20 in San Francisco.

He took part in the trial Jaume Capdevila, oncologist at the University Hospital Val d’Hebron and senior researcher at the Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Tumors Group of the VHIO.

Although these are rare tumors, incidence increased by more than 500% over the past three decades, and there is a need for additional treatment options for newly diagnosed patients with advanced or inoperable disease.

“There is currently no established first-line therapy for high-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors,” noted Capdevila, who in turn defended the benefits of radioligand therapy.

As such, Capdevila noted that the results “represent a potential change in clinical practice” for treating these patients.