Objective: Hyponatremia and hypernatremia are common electrolyte abnormalities in patients with malignancy and have been independently associated with worse survival outcomes. To date, there are no data on the impact of dysnatremia on survival outcome in patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs).
Design: Retrospective cohort analysis from a tertiary care center of NEN patients treated with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with a cumulative activity of at least 3.7 GBq 177Lu-DOTATATE between the years 2000 to 2015
Methods: Comparison of overall survival of patients with the occurrence of hyponatremia (serum sodium <135mmol/L) or hypernatremia (serum sodium >145mmol/L) before start or during PRRT.
Results: A total of 649 patients were included. Hyponatremia occurred in 57 patients during the observation period and was associated with a shorter median overall survival (95% CI) of 25 months (14-36) compared to 55 months (48-61) of the 512 normonatremic patients (p<0.001), adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.48 (95% CI: 1.04-2.12). Overall survival time was reduced regardless of whether hyponatremia was present at baseline or during PRRT.
In contrast, hypernatremia occurred in 80 patients and was associated with a longer median overall survival (95% CI) of 94 months (47-140) compared with the 512 normonatremic patients (p=0.018), adjusted HR 0.61 (95% CI: 0.40-0.92). This association was driven by the patients with hypernatremia during PRRT. No association between dysnatremia and progression-free survival after PRRT was observed.
Conclusions: The occurrence of hypo- or hypernatremia in PRRT-treated NET patients is associated with opposing outcomes with regard to overall survival. Sodium levels might have a prognostic role in these patients.