OBJECTIVES: The incidence and prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) has been growing over the last 40 years. ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE (LUT) was approved by the FDA in 2018 for patients with GEP-NETs. We aim to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with GEP-NETs in the US, and the impact of LUT on healthcare resources using data from the Optum Electronic Health Records (EHR) database.

METHODS: Patients with GEP-NETs were identified from electronic health records using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) versions 9 and 10 diagnosis codes; medications were identified using National Drug Code (NDC) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes. Data from January 2018 to March 2020 were included in the analysis.

RESULTS: 40,834 patients with GEP-NETs were identified, of which 49.1% were female; 185 of these patients were treated with LUT. Mean (SD) age at diagnosis in overall GEP-NETs patients was 64.8 (14.2) years. 62.7% of patients on LUT had ≥3 co-morbidities (vs 64.9% in overall GEP-NETs). Treatment with LUT led to decreased use of various healthcare services (LUT vs overall GEP-NETS: inpatient visits, 35.1% vs 46.3%; GP visits, 53.5% vs 59.6%; ER visits, 8.6% vs 20.7%). The average length of stay was shorter for patients on LUT (3.9 days vs 7.1 days in overall GEP-NETs). For LUT-treated patients, some visit types increased when compared to the pre-treatment period (35.1% vs 13.0% for inpatient visits; 9.2% vs 1.6% for outpatient visits).

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with GEP-NETs face a high burden of illness and substantial healthcare service use. In patients receiving LUT in the US, healthcare utilization appears reduced.