March 31, 2025 (HealthDay) — According to a press release issued by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor Cabozantinib for the treatment of patients with previously treated advanced neuroendocrine tumors, providing a new standard-of-care option for this patient population.
This approval is based on the results of the Phase 3 CABINET study. The study compared Cabozantinib against a placebo in patients with previously treated advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and advanced extra-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The trial results were published last September in the *New England Journal of Medicine*. The results demonstrated that patients treated with Cabozantinib experienced a significantly longer period of progression-free survival compared to those receiving a placebo. Given the improvements in efficacy observed during an interim analysis, the trial was halted early and unblinded in August 2023.
The report notes that the side effects associated with Cabozantinib were similar to those observed in previous studies, including hypertension, fatigue, and diarrhea.
Jennifer Chan, MD, MPH, lead author of the CABINET study and a physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, stated in a press release: "Patients with neuroendocrine tumors often face a difficult disease course. Although there has been some progress in recent years, there remains an urgent need for new, effective therapies for patients whose cancer has progressed or metastasized. Cabozantinib significantly improves outcomes for this patient population, and the FDA's approval brings new hope."
