Application of sovantinib in large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of tonsil: A case report and literature review

Tonsillar neuroendocrine carcinoma has low incidence and poor prognosis, there is no standard treatment which is mainly by surgery, radiotherapy, or combined with chemotherapy. With announcement of the results of phase III clinical trials of sovantinib in extrapancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma, sovantinib has shown potential in the treatment of neuroendocrine carcinoma. To our knowledge, there are no reports about the application of sovantinib in tonsillar neuroendocrine carcinoma. We reported a patient with large cell neuroendocrine carci-noma of tonsil, who had developed distant metastasis at the first diagnosis and was not effective after routine chemotherapy; and only temporary remission was achieved with the use of immunotherapy. Then with the subsequent change to sovantinib, long-term disease control without serious adverse reactions was achieved. Therefore, we propose that sovantinib is one of the important alternative treatments for advanced tonsillar neuroendocrine carcinoma.