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Ochsner Medical Center – Kenner to Offer Newly Approved Neuroendocrine Tumor Therapy

Beginning in July 2018, New Orleans Louisiana Neuroendocrine Tumor Specialists (NOLANETS) located at Ochsner Medical Center – Kenner will offer Lutetium 177 DOTA-TATE (Lu 177), a recently FDA-approved Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) for the treatment of neuroendocrine carcinoid tumors found in the pancreas and GI tract. The Neuroendocrine Tumor Program at Ochsner has been a national leader for over a decade in the treatment and management of this slow-growing and often misdiagnosed condition.

A neuroendocrine tumor (NET) is a rare, hormone-producing tumor that affects neuroendocrine cells present throughout the diffuse neuroendocrine system. Carcinoid tumors are the most common NET, and often originate in the lungs, pancreas or gastrointestinal tract.

While NETs are typically managed by various treatment options, Lu 177 is a targeted radiation that halts tumor growth. Ochsner’s Neuroendocrine Program was one of a few in the nation approved to conduct clinical trials with Lu 177 before its FDA approval, and administered the first trial treatments in November 2017. With over 23 patients being treated, providers are seeing positive results with less side effects in comparison to other treatment therapies.

Up to this point, patients seeking PRRT treatment have had to travel abroad as these therapies were developed and only available in Europe. Patients with the financial ability would travel to Switzerland and other countries for treatment paying for out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Approximately 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor every year, indicating the great potential impact of this recent FDA approval.

With the tripled incidence of NETs diagnoses in the last decade alone, there is a huge and unmet need. PRRT will further enhance and increase patient survival another three or four years, allowing time while additional innovative therapies are developed.

The Neuroendocrine Program at Ochsner Medical Center – Kenner is an affiliation between Louisiana State University Health Science Center and Ochsner Medical Center and specializes in the diagnosis and management of all forms of neuroendocrine tumors. For more information, please visit https://www.ochsner.org/nets.