News

UCSF Team at 2022 Multidisciplinary NET Medical Symposium

UCSF representation at the 2022 Multidisciplinary NET Medical Symposium October 27-29 in Washington, D.C.

Claire Mulvey, MD receives Spring 2022 RAP Funding for eNet Study

Claire Mulvey, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UCSF, received funds from the Spring 2022 Research Allocation Project (RAP) for her project "eNET: a Web-Based Health Platform to Investigate Quality of Life in Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors."

New eNET Study Open

eNET is a study to test the effectiveness of a Web-based program to collect information about symptoms, lifestyle, quality of life, and well-being for patients with neuroendocrine tumors. It is being run by Dr. Emily Bergsland and doctors at UCSF. To learn more or sign up, go to enet.…

Clinical and Genomic Characterization of Treatment-Emergent Small-Cell Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

By UroToday.com on
Charles Ryan invites Rahul Aggarwal to discuss treatment-emergent small-cell neuroendocrine prostate cancer, an area not well characterized in the era of modern androgen receptor (AR)-targeting therapy.  

NETRF funds $3.5 million in research to advance neuroendocrine tumor treatment

By Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) on
UCSF's Claire Mulvey, MD, has been awarded a Fellowship Award from the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) for her project "Trends in incidence and survival outcomes for lung NETs."  The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF), Boston, MA, today announced $3.5 million in…

PET offers more precise screening method to select candidates for radionuclide therapy

By EurekAlert.org on
A new study published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine evaluated the role of 68Ga-DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in selecting neuroendocrine tumor patients who may benefit from peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT).

2019 Neuroendocrine Tumor Patient Conference

Presented by the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and NorCal CarciNET Community, in collaboration with Stanford University and with generous support provided by supporters and industry partners. Co-Host: NorCal CarciNET Community  Sunday, February 10, 2019 at 8:30am …

NETRF Announces $2.5 Million in Research to Advance the Treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumors

By Donna Dubuc, Director of Communications, NETRF on
(Boston, MA) — The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) continues its aggressive funding of neuroendocrine cancer research with eight new grants totaling $2.5 million. With this newest round of funding, NETRF expands its portfolio to include research into lung neuroendocrine tumors (…

June 2017, Dr. Emily Bergsland received the Ernest H. Rosenbaum, M.D., Commitment to Patient Care Award for her long-standing dedication to her patients and ongoing efforts to improve care for people with neuroendocrine tumors. The award recognizes clinicians who are deeply committed to the highest quality patient care.

 

In December 2016, Dr. Thomas Hope received the first NETRF/ERF Nuclear Medicine Pilot Research Grant. The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) established the grant to explore innovations in nuclear medicine focused on diagnosis and treatment. The Education and Research Foundation for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (ERF) solicited proposals and convened the scientific review panel to select the recipient. Hope’s project is titled “Intra-Arterial Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (I-A PRRT) using 90Y DOTA-TOC.” The primary goals are to evaluate possible liver, bone marrow and kidney toxicity after hepatic arterial injection and to evaluate imaging tumor response three months after treatment. Dr. Hope’s principal co-investigators are Dr. Emily Bergsland and Dr. Nicholas Fidelman.

 

In 2016, the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation recognized Dr. Eric Nakakura for his projected titled “Development of a Mouse Model of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Cancer.” His xenograft mouse model will be useful in helping develop and test potential new therapies for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

 

In 2016, the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation named Dr. Michael Germanthe NETRF Petersen Investigator for his project titled, “Treating Neuroendocrine Tumors via Synthetic Lethality.” His research aims to analyze how certain pathways interact to control neuroendocrine cell survival and death, and to evaluate synthetic lethal interactions—a gene therapy targeting cancer cells—in a patient-derived xenograft tumor model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

 


What is PRRT?

PRRT (177Lu-DOTATATE) is currently available at UCSF.

For evaluation, please request an appointment.

PRRT stands for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy.  Peptide refers to a small molecule that is very similar to the naturally occurring hormone somatostatin.  We call it a somatostatin analog, meaning that it is similar but not identical to somatostatin.  There are a number of somatostatin analogs that are use in patients with neuroendocrine tumors including octreotide, sandostatin, lanreotide.  These peptides bind to the somatostatin receptor that is expressed on the majority of neuroendocrine tumor cells. 

 

When binding to these receptors the peptide is brought into the tumor cell and stays there.  Because neuroendocrine tumor cells are one of the few cells in the body that express somatostatin receptors, we are able to target our peptide to the tumor cells using the receptor.  Radionuclide refers to the radiation that we attach to the peptide. 

 

There are different types of radiation that we can use, but in PRRT all the radiation given off is the type that can be used to kill cells.  Therapy refers to the idea that we are using peptides to target the receptors and bring the radionuclide into the tumor cells in order to treat the cells.  That is PRRT.

 

 

Published guidelines for treatment of NETs

UCSF Drs. Eric Nakakura and Emily Bergsland discuss carcinoid syndrome on ITV

 June 20, 2016


 

Dr. Emily Bergsland - NET Primer

January 24, 2016


 

The Patient & Family Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) 2016 Conference

January 2016, Mission Bay Conference Center

Hosted by the HDFCCC in cooperation with NorCal CarciNET, NET Research Foundation, and Stanford University Medical Center