MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – (Jan. 26, 2018) The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is excited to share that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) just approved Lutathera®, a medication effective for somatostatin receptor-positive gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), including pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs).
While the FDA has already approved similar drugs for neuroendocrine tumor patients in the United States, Lutathera takes treatment a step further by selectively delivering radiotherapy to the PNETs using a somatostatin analog.
This is the first time the FDA has made it widely available for patients located in the U.S. The drug is already approved in Europe and some Americans have traveled to the continent for treatment.
Patients who were treated with Lutathera in the phase III clinical trial had a 79 percent reduction in risk of disease progression or death, as compared to patients treated with the standard of care.
Learn more about how clinical trials for drugs like Lutathera improve patient outcomes by contacting Patient Central or by visiting pancan.org. Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.