Optimizing Treatment: Adjusting Somatostatin Analog Dosing for Neuroendocrine Tumor Symptoms

In the final part of our interview with Dr Jennifer Chan, MD, MPH, she discussed the factors that lead to the decision to intensify or switch somatostatin analog (SSA) therapies.

In clinical practice, dose adjustment for SSAs is a common strategy used to manage patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). The primary reason for escalating the dose is to achieve better symptom control, particularly for patients experiencing uncontrolled carcinoid syndrome symptoms like flushing and diarrhea.

While dose escalation is widely accepted for managing symptoms, there is currently less controlled data to definitively support it as a strategy for disease control. However, some observational results—including data gathered from the control arms of other clinical trials—suggest that increasing the SSA dose may offer a period of disease stabilization.

Currently, clinicians often rely on these observational findings and clinical judgment when deciding to increase the dose for potential anti-tumor effects. Nevertheless, the medical community is actively awaiting the results of ongoing dedicated trials to provide more robust, controlled evidence to better understand and validate the role of SSA dose escalation specifically for achieving and maintaining disease control in patients.