Circulating tumour cells and tumour biomarkers in functional midgut neuroendocrine tumours

CALM-NET was a phase IV exploratory study in the UK that aimed to evaluate if the presence of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) at baseline predicted symptomatic response in patients with midgut neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) treated with lanreotide autogel (LAN). Adults with functional, well/moderately differentiated (Ki-67 <20%) midgut NETs received LAN 120 mg/28 days for 1 year. CTCs were present in blood if enumeration was >0. Primary endpoint was the clinical value of baseline CTCs to predict symptomatic response (decrease in diarrhoea or flushing of ≥50% frequency, or ≥1 severity level). Other endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS) and correlations between plasma and urinary biomarkers (including 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid [5-HIAA]). Fifty patients were enrolled; 40 completed the study. Baseline CTCs were present in 22 (45.8%) patients (missing baseline CTC status n = 2). Overall, 87.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 73.9; 94.5) of patients had a symptomatic response; a 5.9-fold higher odds of symptomatic response in patients without CTC versus patients with CTC at baseline was observed, although this was not statistically significant (odds ratio: 0.17 [95% CI: 0.02; 1.65], p = .126). One-year PFS rate was 66.4% (95% CI: 48.8; 79.2). Biomarker concentrations did not correlate to baseline CTC status. However, there was a strong correlation between plasma and urinary 5-HIAA (Spearman correlation coefficients ≥0.87 [p < .001], all time points). In conclusion, patients without CTC at baseline may be more likely to achieve a symptomatic response following LAN treatment than patients with CTC. Plasma 5-HIAA correlated with urinary 5-HIAA during LAN treatment. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02075606.