Successful Treatment with <sup>177</sup>Lutetium-Dotatate and Maintenance Octreotide in a Patient with Esthesioneuroblastoma with Central Nervous System Invasion: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

This article presents a case of a patient with relapsed esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB), an aggressive rare tumor that arises from the specialized sensory epithelial olfactory cells in the skull base area, which was initially treated with endoscopic surgery, followed by adjuvant radiotherapy. After local relapse, new surgical approaches and subsequent lines of platin-based chemotherapy were performed. A PET-CT with 68GALIUM DOTATATOC (PET-DOTATOC) showed intense uptake of disease, compatible with the presence of somatostatin receptors, in the face, nodes, liver, bones, and meningeal area. Treatment with 4 cycles of 177Lutetium-Dotatate was performed, followed by maintenance octreotide, with a major radiological and clinical response that is lasting more than 1 year after treatment. This article describes a rare case of a skull-base tumor, with multiple recurrences, in which disease control was achieved with a targeted Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) with 177Lutetium-Dotatate, and discusses factors that could influence the incorporation of this form of therapy. Previous case reports proved the potential efficacy of this therapy usually given for low-grade neuroendocrine tumors and will be carefully reviewed.