August, 2022 - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

30Aug 2022 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Prospective phase II trial of [68Ga]Ga-NODAGA-E[c(RGDyK)]2 PET/CT imaging of integrin for prognostication in patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms

August 25, 2022 -- A new gallium-68 PET radiotracer appears effective for predicting higher risk of disease progression and mortality in patients with neuroendocrine tumors, according to a study published August 18 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Conclusion: Tumor lesion uptake of 68Ga-NODAGA-E[c(RGDyK)]2 was evident in patients with all grades of NEN. High uptake was associated with a poorer prognosis. Further studies are warranted to establish if 68Ga-NODAGA-E[c(RGDyK)]2 PET/CT may become a prediction tool for identification of patients eligible for treatments targeting integrin αvβ3. Why is this different to regular Ga68 Dotatate? In the simplest of terms, Ga68 Dotatate is targeting somatostatin receptors which are known to be expressed by most NETs, it can help indicate if treatment using somatostatin analogue therapy is feasible. Integrin αvβ3 recognizing cell surface integrins is upregulated on endothelial…

Neuroendocrine Cancer: At least 50 shades of grey

Awareness, Patient Advocacy

If you read any authoritative source on this cancer, it will normally begin with "Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) are heterogeneous tumours .............". The term heterogeneous means diverse in character or content; or a structure with dissimilar components or elements. This is not surprising as these tumours are found in Neuroendocrine cells throughout the vast majority of the human anatomy. And yet, when you look at many hospital/healthcare sites, advocate organisation sites, and cancer information sources not maintained by Neuroendocrine Cancer scientists or specialists, you might start to think there is just one big type of NET and only one syndrome. Once again, this is partly related to the lingering use of the term Carcinoid. Even within the community, so many people make blanket statements about Neuroendocrine Cancer which are misleading, e.g."they're all…

Curtis Crump: “If I’m going down, it won’t be without a fight.”

Clinical Trials, Inspiration, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Curtis Crump: Credit MD Anderson Cancer Center Curtis Crump has an amazing story to tell. Given 6 months to live, he refused to accept that prognosis and looked elsewhere. He found a top hospital that directed him to an established clinical trial. Although the story I am attaching says "Neuroendocrine Tumors" throughout, with that prognosis and the treatment he received (chemotherapy and immunotherapy), I'm reasonably confident he had a Neuroendocrine Carcinoma (Colon primary) or a Grade 3 Well Differentiated NET. Nonetheless, his story is relevant to many people's experiences across the broad spectrum of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs). And if I am right in my assumption, even with a poorly differentiated type, there is the hope of a better prognosis. Wishing Curtis the very best. Read his story below.(Please see my disclaimers…