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Review
. 2022 Aug 18;14(16):3991.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14163991.

Immunotherapy of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Any Role for the Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells?

Giuseppe Fanciulli  1 , Roberta Modica  2 , Anna La Salvia  3 , Federica Campolo  4 , Tullio Florio  5   6 , Nevena Mikovic  7 , Alice Plebani  8 , Valentina Di Vito  4 , Annamaria Colao  2   9 , Antongiulio Faggiano  7 ; NIKE Group
Affiliations
Review

Immunotherapy of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Any Role for the Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells?

Giuseppe Fanciulli et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with variable clinical presentation and prognosis. Surgery, when feasible, is the most effective and often curative treatment. However, NENs are frequently locally advanced or already metastatic at diagnosis. Consequently, additional local or systemic therapeutic approaches are required. Immunotherapy, based on chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T), is showing impressive results in several cancer treatments. The aim of this narrative review is to analyze the available data about the use of CAR-T in NENs, including studies in both preclinical and clinical settings. We performed an extensive search for relevant data sources, comprising full-published articles, abstracts from international meetings, and worldwide registered clinical trials. Preclinical studies performed on both cell lines and animal models indicate a significant therapeutic effect of CAR-T cells in NENs. Ongoing and future clinical trials will clarify the possible role of these drugs in patients with highly aggressive NENs.

Keywords: carcinoid tumor; chimeric antigen receptor-T cells; neuroendocrine carcinoma; neuroendocrine neoplasm; neuroendocrine tumor; somatostatin receptors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagrammatic representation of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The process of developing CAR-T cells as a therapeutic approach for NEN.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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