Endocrine Abstracts

Chemotherapy has historically been the ‘work horse’ of medical oncology. An improved understanding of the biological behavious of neuroendocrine neoplasms has led to decision-making based on pathological characterisation of neuroendocrine neoplasms in to well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) vs poorly-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs). Platinum/etoposide has an established role in high-grade NECs with high responses, although these are often short-lived. There is a need to identify effective second-line treatment options through well-conducted prospective studies. In well-differentiated NETs, the use of streptozocin in combination with 5-FU or doxorubicin is being increasingly superseded by temozolomide with limited prospective randomised until the recent presentation of the E2211 study at ASCO 2018. This presentation will explore the current and future role of chemotherapy and how treatment decisions can be guided by the available evidence; areas of opportunity for further studies will also be highlighted.