Lung Cancer: Targets and Therapy (Jul 2020)
Clinical Evaluation of Everolimus in the Treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Lung: Patient Selection and Special Considerations. A Systematic and Critical Review of the Literature
Abstract
Marta Peri,1 Nicola Fazio2 1Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Stomatological Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; 2Division of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Neuroendocrine Tumors, European Institute of Oncology, IEO, IRCCS, Milan, ItalyCorrespondence: Nicola Fazio via Ripamonti 435, Milan 20141, ItalyTel +390257489439Fax +390294379224Email [email protected]: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the lung are well-differentiated neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) with a heterogeneous clinical behaviour. Unlike gastroenteropancreatic NENs where therapeutic armamentarium clearly increased over the last decade, everolimus represented the only clinical practical innovation for lung NET patients over the last years. Therefore, for lung NETs, a multidisciplinary discussion within a dedicated team remains critical for an adequate decision-making. Although the main regulatory authorities considered the everolimus-related evidence is enough to approve the drug in advanced lung NETs, several clinical features deserve to be discussed. In this review, we systemically and critically analysed the main clinical studies including patients with advanced lung NETs receiving everolimus. Furthermore, we reported the biological and clinical background of everolimus in lung NET setting. The purpose of this review is to help clinical community to contextualize evidence and experience for a personalised use of this drug in clinical practice in the context of advanced lung NET patients.Keywords: lung NET, typical carcinoid, atypical carcinoid, everolimus, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, targeted agents
