April, 2021 - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

30Apr 2021 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Dual Tracer (68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG) PET Imaging in G2 & G3 Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours

For some time now, I've been watching the development of PET scans for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs). I use the term 'Neoplasms' because there are different strategies for well and poorly differentiated types, Neuroendocrine Tumour (NET) and Neuroendocrine Carcinoma (NEC) respectively.It's known that most NETs have somatostatin receptors which makes tumours be seen better on somatostatin receptor-based imaging e.g. 68Ga-DOTATATE or 64Cu DOTATATE, but more aggressive types tend not to have working somatostatin receptors and are better seen on regular PET, i.e. 18F-FDG PET/CT. However, nothing in NENs is simple and there's always outliers. This has been highlighted since the addition of a Grade 3 Well Differentiated NET into the equation.The variable clinical outcome of patients with G2 & G3 well diff Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours (GEP NETs) makes the selection of…

22Apr 2021 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments

Generic Somatostatin Analogues for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Treatment

I've covered a lot about somatostatin analogues, particularly the two predominant approved drugs Lanreotide and Octreotide. Recently I read about generic drugs and found there are some for octreotide and as at Jul 2021, at least one for Lanreotide. I was concerned to hear a patient asking a question about generic drugs in my private Facebook group with the main concern being they could be of lesser quality. I studied that in more detail and here are the results of my research. What are generic drugs? According to the US FDA, a generic drug is a medication created to be the same as an already marketed brand-name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics, and intended use. These similarities help to demonstrate bioequivalence, which means…

15Apr 2021 by Ronny Allan No Comments

A Diagnostic Imaging Study of 64Cu-SARTATE™ for Neuroendocrine Tumours

Clinical Trials

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email We probably should start to use the term "Somatostatin Receptor PET" (SSTR PET) a bit more. We got used to using the term Ga68 PET but since then we have an approved copper version known as 64Cu Dotatate (commercial brand name in US DETECTNET™). Now we have another in the clinical trial pipeline and will add others as they come onto my radar.Ga68 Dotatate/TOC/NOC - click hereCu64 Dotatate (DetectNET) - click hereA Diagnostic Imaging Study of 64Cu-SARTATE™ Using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) on Patients With Known or Suspected NETsReference: NCT04438304Trial status: RecruitingThe purpose of this study is to assess the performance of imaging agent 64Cu-SARTATE in participants with known or suspected Gastroenteropancreatic…

03Apr 2021 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

A Neuroendocrine Cancer diagnosis: I didn’t even feel ill

Awareness

I talk often about my diagnosis but not about an 'incident' which occurred almost immediately prior to being formally told. I was well into the 'diagnostic phase', having had all sorts of tests including a liver biopsy. I vividly remember thinking these tests were a 'nuisance', I was far too busy and I didn't even feel ill. In hindsight, I was fortunate to have had such a thorough bunch of physicians who diagnosed me with metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer in about 6 weeks 'flash to bang'. I intentionally use a phrase associated with 'quick' because in the world of Neuroendocrine Cancer, 6 weeks is 'warp speed'. So, why was I admitted to hospital during the diagnostic phase? Because I was stupid. In fact I was double-stupid. Firstly, despite having had to undergo a liver biopsy…