A clinical and radiological objective tumor response with somatostatin analogs (SSA) in well-differentiated neuroendocrine metastatic tumor of the ileum: a case report

Somatostatin analogs (SSAs) are typically used to treat the symptoms caused by neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), but they are not used as the primary treatment to induce tumor shrinkage. We report a case of a 63-year-old woman with a symptomatic metastatic NET of the ileum. Complete symptomatic response was achieved after 1 month of treatment with SSAs. In addition, there was an objective response in the liver, with the disappearance of secondary lesions noted on computed tomography scan after 3 months of octreotide treatment. Our experience suggests that SSAs could be useful for downstaging and/or downsizing well-differentiated NETs, and they could allow surgery to be performed. Such presurgery therapy could be a promising tool in the management of patients with initially inoperable NETs.