melphalan and Carcinoid-Tumor

A 20-year-old student presented with diarrhoea and miliary mottling in the chest radiograph. Biopsy specimens of lung and cervical lymph node showed diffuse multifocal carcinoid tumour. No deterioration in clinical state, radiographic appearances or lung function has occurred after two years' treatment with melphalan.

Topics: Adult; Amyloid; Biopsy; Carcinoid Tumor; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Lymph Nodes; Male; Melphalan

Sunitinib demonstrating efficacy in pancreatic islet cell carcinomas will pave the way for further trials in other neuroendocrine tumor types such as carcinoid, poorly differentiated neuroendocrine disease, and several other endocrine tumors that are dependent on VEGF/VEGFR for angiogenesis. In addition, other drugs with distinct mechanisms of action, such as mTOR inhibitors, currently investigated in phase III trials, may also supply novel options in those diseases to control tumor growth and metastasis.

Topics: Angiogenesis Inhibitors; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Biomarkers, Tumor; Carcinoid Tumor; Cell Line, Tumor; Clinical Trials as Topic; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; ErbB Receptors; Humans; Indoles; Kidney Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Melphalan; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Procarbazine; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit; Pyrroles; Sunitinib; Vinblastine; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays