Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP NETs) are a diverse group of malignancies arising from neuroendocrine cells within the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas. These tumors can lead to significant morbidity due to hormonal hypersecretion, tumor burden, and treatment-related side effects. As therapeutic strategies evolve as with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), there is growing recognition of the importance of evaluating patient-reported quality of life (QoL). To assess this impact meaningfully, validated instruments such as the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire for gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumours (QLQ-GI.NET21) and Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) for all cancer populations are invaluable. This study aims to evaluate the impact of PRRT on the QoL of patients with GEP NETs, using the above questionnaires to provide a comprehensive understanding of how PRRT influences patient well-being beyond traditional clinical endpoints.

Methods: Between 2015 -2025 patients who underwent PRRT at Royal Free London hospital, and consented for this study, completed two questionnaires, before PRRT is administered at each cycle. Patients who completed all 4 questionnaires were selected for this study. The response format of both questionnaires is a 4-point Likert scale. Responses to the questionnaire are linearly transformed to a 0 -100 scale using EORTC guidelines. A difference of ≥5 mean scores between any treatment cycle was considered clinically relevant. Statistical significance was only calculated for clinically relevant changes (mean score differences ≥5), using the paired t-test and ANOVA.

Results: All 4 GI-NET QOL questionnaires was completed by 268 patients and C30 questionnaires by 153 patients. There was a statistically significant difference between pre therapy score and 1st post therapy score, pre therapy score and 2nd post therapy score, pre therapy score and 3rd post therapy score in all 5 scales in the GI NET 21. There was no statistically significant difference between pre therapy scores and post therapy scores of C30 questioner.

Conclusion: PRRT improves the quality of life and disease specific concerns of GI NET.