Episode 64: Metastatic Neuroendocrine Carcinomas

"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work!" so said Thomas Edison in describing his journey to the incandescent light bulb. This quote seemed appropraite as Michael and Josh conclude their journey in the neuroendocrine space and discuss neuroendocrine carcinomas (and poorly differentiated metastatic neuroendocrine tumours). Sometimes when you working in the oncological world, we all feel a bit like Thomas Edison, pouring sweat and tears into research that doesn't live up to expectations. But much like Thomas Edison, each step in this journey could revolutionise humanity or oncology, much like the CDK4/6 inhibitors, immunotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

But we aren't there yet. This week, Michael discusses the immunotherapy agent (Spartalizumab) while Josh goes old-school and discusses the TOPIC-NEC Japanese trial comparing etoposide and cisplatin (EP) to irinotecan and cisplatin (IP). Michael and Josh smell small cell similarities coming aboard the neuroendocrine express!

Links to studies discussed in this episode (subscription may be required):

TOPIC-NEC: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2795418

Immunotherapy (Spartalizumab): https://erc.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/erc/28/3/ERC-20-0382.xml