mTOR inhibitor resistance in bronchial carcinoids

Surgical intervention is not feasible in aggressive metastatic bronchial carcinoids (BCs), and current mTOR inhibitors have had mixed clinical success. Gagliano and colleagues assessed a novel PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, NVP-BEZ235, in everolimus-resistant human BCs. They found that NVP-BEZ235 is twice as effective as everolimus in BCs which are sensitive to mTOR inhibitors, but not effective in everolimus-resistant BC tissues. They go on to identify 3 markers, which may be clinically useful in identifying BCs which may respond to mTOR inhibitor treatment.

Read the full article in Gagliano et al (2013) Endocrine-Related Cancer 20; 463-475; DOI: 10.1530/ERC-13-0042.