Current Research

Research about islet cell tumors is ongoing. The following advances may still be under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this current time. Always discuss all diagnostic and treatment options with your doctor.

Antiangiogenesis research. Antiangiogenesis research, which explores how tumors develop their blood supplies and how agents disrupt these blood supplies, may benefit people with islet cell tumors. An example of an antiangiogenic agent is bevacizumab (Avastin), a monoclonal antibody that is approved for use in other cancers, such as colon cancer and lung cancer. Bevacizumab is currently being investigated in clinical trials in combination with chemotherapy, octreotide, and Everolimus (RAD001, see below) for patients with advanced islet cell tumors (see drug combinations and new agents below).

Other oral medications that have antiangiogenic properties and are also being studied in people with advanced islet cell tumors include sunitinib (Sutent), sorafenib (Nexavar), pazopanib, and AMG706. One large phase III study has recently shown that sunitinib significantly delays the growth and spread of islet cell tumors.

Drug combinations. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as fluorouracil (Efudex, Adrucil, 5FU), leucovorin (Wellcovorin), capecitabine (Xeloda), oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), and temozolomide (Temodar), work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. As noted above, several clinical trials are evaluating these chemotherapies in combination with bevacizumab.

New agents. RAD001, a new drug that works by inhibiting a protein important in cancer cell growth called mTOR, is being investigated both by itself and together with other therapeutic agents in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors. Lanreotide (Somatuline), a somatostatin similar to octreotide, is also in clinical trial testing. Finally, a strategy that has been under active investigation for some time now involves attaching radioactive isotopes to somatostatin analogues (synthetic hormones similar to ones that the body produces naturally). When these radiolabeled agents are injected into the body, they find and destroy islet cell tumor cells by their radioactivity.