Determination of O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase by immunochemistry and pyrosequencing as a predictive factor of response to temozolomide in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

195Background: Temozolomide (TMZ) is an alkylating agent that has shown good results in the treatment of neuroendocrine and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. The loss of O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) expression by pyrosequencing (PSQ) is a predictive factor of response to treatment with TMZ in high-grade gliomas. However, its predictive value in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET) is controversial, and there is no consensus on how to best assess MGMT. The aim was to evaluate the objective response rate in pNET according to the state of MGMT, assessed by PSQ for evaluation of promoter methylation and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Methods: Patients with pNET who were treated with TMZ at the center between 2008 and 2017 were studied retrospectively. Ten patients were included in the study. A deficiency of MGMT was determined by IHC and MGMT promoter methylation by PSQ. For IHC, the cut-off was 10%, defined as negative < 10% of tumor cells positive in the tumor tissue. For the PSQ, the c...