With the exception of surgery for localized disease, there is presently a lack of available therapies with proven survival benefit for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET). Available treatment options for unresectable disease include the use of somatostatin analogs, which may relieve symptoms related to hormonal hypersecretion. The efficacy of cytotoxic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic carcinoid tumors is also limited. Combinations of either streptozocin and cyclophosphamide, or streptozocin and 5-fluorouracil, appear to be inactive, and both regimens are associated with substantial toxicity.~Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are implicated in deregulated/ autocrine proliferation and survival of solid and hematologic cancer cells. Sunitinib malate is an orally administered small molecule that inhibits the tyrosine kinase enzymatic activities of the receptors for VEGF and PDGF, and also blocks signalling through the KIT, FLT3 and RET pathways.~Therefore, sunitinib malate may provide an opportunity for a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of subjects with NET.
Sunitinib may provide an opportunity for a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of subjects with neuroendocrine tumors.