TY - JOUR T1 - Quality of Life in 265 Patients with Gastroenteropancreatic or Bronchial Neuroendocrine Tumors Treated with [<sup>177</sup>Lu-DOTA<sup>0</sup>,Tyr<sup>3</sup>]Octreotate JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 1361 LP - 1368 DO - 10.2967/jnumed.111.087932 VL - 52 IS - 9 AU - Saima Khan AU - Eric P. Krenning AU - Martijn van Essen AU - Boen L. Kam AU - Jaap J. Teunissen AU - Dik J. Kwekkeboom Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/52/9/1361.abstract N2 - Quality of life (QOL) is an important outcome in cancer therapy. In this study, we investigated the QOL and symptoms after [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotate (177Lu-octreotate) therapy in patients with inoperable or metastasized gastroenteropancreatic or bronchial neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Methods: Two hundred sixty-five Dutch patients completed the QOL questionnaire of the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer after being treated for NETs. ANOVA was used for statistical analyses, with a P value of 0.05 or less being considered significant. Differences of at least 10 points in global health status (GHS)/QOL scores, symptom scores, and Karnofsky performance scores (KPS) before and after therapy were regarded as indicating an improvement. Results: Regardless of the treatment outcome, GHS/QOL, insomnia, appetite loss, and diarrhea improved significantly in the total group. These improvements were also seen in patients with bone metastases or a decrease of 50% or more in chromogranin A. Improvement in the scores by at least 10 points was also analyzed in a subgroup of patients with decreased GHS/QOL or symptoms at the start of therapy: in 36% of these patients, GHS/QOL improved after therapy; in 49%, fatigue; in 70%, nausea plus vomiting; in 53%, pain; in 44%, dyspnea; in 59%, insomnia; in 63%, appetite loss; in 60%, constipation; and in 67%, diarrhea. Additionally, we did not see a statistically significant deterioration in patients who had GHS/QOL 100, KPS 100, or no symptoms at the start. In patients with initial stable disease or remission after treatment, GHS/QOL and KPS decreased significantly when regrowth of the tumors occurred. Conclusion: GHS/QOL, KPS, and symptoms improved significantly after 177Lu-octreotate therapy, and there was no significant decrease in QOL in patients who had no symptoms before therapy. In patients who had suboptimal scores for GHS/QOL or symptoms before therapy, a clinically significant improvement was demonstrated. Our results indicate that 177Lu-octreotate therapy not only reduces tumors and prolongs overall survival but also improves the patients’ self-assessed QOL. ER -