Description – This phase II/III trial compares the effect of immunotherapy with atezolizumab in combination with standard chemotherapy with a platinum drug (cisplatin or carboplatin) and etoposide versus standard therapy alone for the treatment of poorly differentiated extrapulmonary (originated outside the lung) neuroendocrine cancer that may have spread from where it first started to nearby tissue, lymph nodes, or distant parts of the body (advanced) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). The other aim of this trial is to compare using atezolizumab just at the beginning of treatment versus continuing it beyond the initial treatment. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as atezolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Cisplatin and carboplatin are in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds that work by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Etoposide is in a class of medications known as podophyllotoxin derivatives. It blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and DNA repair, and it may kill cancer cells. Giving atezolizumab in combination with a platinum drug (cisplatin or carboplatin) and etoposide may work better in treating patients with poorly differentiated extrapulmonary neuroendocrine cancer compared to standard therapy with a platinum drug (cisplatin or carboplatin) and etoposide alone.

Clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05058651

SWOG-S2012 - Randomized Phase II/III Trial of First Line Platinum/Etoposide with or Without Atezolizumab (NSC#783608) in Patients with Poorly Differentiated Extrapulmonary Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinomas (NEC)

Description  – This phase II trial studies how well the addition of olaparib to the usual treatment, temozolomide, works in treating patients with neuroendocrine cancer (pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma) that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic) or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Poly (adenosine diphosphate [ADP]-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) are proteins that help repair deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) mutations. PARP inhibitors, such as olaparib, can keep PARP from working, so tumor cells can't repair themselves, and they may stop growing. Chemotherapy drugs, such as temozolomide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving olaparib with temozolomide may shrink or stabilize the cancer in patients with pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma better than temozolomide alone.

Clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04394858

Alliance-a021804 - A Prospective, Multi-Institutional Phase II Trial Evaluating Temozolomide vs. Temozolomide and Olaparib for Advanced Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma