ENETS 2024 Daily highlight 1

Prof Ivan Borbath from the University Hospitals  Saint-Luc in Brussels covered the first day of the ENETS 2024, a postgraduate course. The first session was marked with a focus on patient follow-up post-surgery or treatment. Prof Eric Baudin discussed recurrence-free survival as a surrogate for overall survival in endocrine tumours. Dr Ambrosini emphasized the importance of PET scans with somatostatin analogues in patient monitoring, while Dr Hans Hofland elaborated on symptom-based patient follow-up, particularly highlighting hypoglycaemia for insulinoma and various etiologies for diarrhoea in the midgut and carcinoid syndrome patients.

The second session concentrated on imaging techniques, including CT scans with triple-phase imaging. Dr. Sundin illustrated radiological features alongside histology images from a pathologist. Oncologists and endocrinologists led PRRT suitability discussions, considering tumour grade, tumour load, and patient comorbidities, as well as findings from randomized control trials like NETTER-1 and NETTER-2.

During the poster presentation before lunch, Dr Louis De Mestier presented findings on familial midgut neuroendocrine tumours, suggesting no worse prognosis and potentially aiding clinical decision-making. Dr Singh introduced preliminary data on paltusotine, an oral somatostatin analogue, showing promising symptom control with minimal side effects. Marta Opalinska discussed a study on the efficacy of a new somatostatin receptor antagonist for imaging, revealing enhanced detection of liver metastases compared to current agonists.

The afternoon sessions commenced with epidemiological overviews on managing incidentalomas in the stomach, duodenum, and rectum, along with discussions on non-operative approaches for discovered lesions. The day concluded with a panel discussion on the multidisciplinary management of patients with liver and bone metastases. Dr. Mairead McNamara’s insights into bone metastasis management, particularly regarding spinal damage prevention, were highlighted. Additionally, Dr De Mestier discussed percutaneous and per-endoscopic treatments for small pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, including radiofrequency ablation, emphasising the need for careful patient selection and treatment decisions.