Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer Archives - Ronny Allan

30Jun 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Newsletter 1st July 2020

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Coping with lockdownDuring June, I decided I continued to be active outside despite the fact I see myself as someone at risk, not just because of the Neuroendocrine Cancer but also due to a history of chest infections and mild asthma. Mental health can be as important as physical health in times of stress and anxiety so I took to the outdoors to tell my story of how I was coping. Of course the outdoors is also a garden (yard) and so that counts too! Back in March I told the story of my own symptomatic period and perhaps one day I might find out if I have antibodies when I'm…

26Jun 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 11 – a story of Walking the Wall, coping strategies and the London Ga68 PET

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Episode 11 of my Living under COVID-19 series. A story of the Walking the Wall, coping strategies and the London Ga68 PET 30th May 2020 Still recovering from the long walk .... if you missed it it's here. We have another 3 or 4 days of hot weather so it's bikes again soon. 🚲🚲 Today my Facebook memory reminded me of finishing our 84 mile walk along Hadrian's Wall on 31st May 2014. We were so happy and relieved to finish - went straight to the only pub in the village of Bowness for a pint of well earned beer 🍻 Lead picture is the view we had towards Scotland where we stayed that night - beautiful. Read about our final day - click here For those interested in the entire journey…

19Jun 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 10 – A story of the Wall, Swans, Dundee and New Forest History

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Episode 10 of my Living under COVID-19 series. A story of the 'Wall', Swans, Dundee and New Forest History26th May 20206 years ago today, Chris and I set off an a 6 day hike across the 2000 year old world heritage site of Hadrian's Wall in northern England. It was an experience we'll never forget, not just for the long 84 mile slog but the natural beauty, the interesting places we visited and the people we met. We were raising funds for the local NET guys PLANETS Charity - co-founded by my surgeon (Neil Pearce) and interventional radiologist (Brian Stedman) and brilliantly ran by our friend and NET Patient Layla Stephen. I think…

09Jun 2020 by Ronny Allan 6 Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 9 – a story of cream teas, peaks and blue sky

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Episode 9 of my Living under COVID-19 series. A story of cream tea, peaks, blue sky and more peaks! 19th May 2020 [caption id="attachment_18552" align="aligncenter" width="640"] In Brockenhurst, a New Forest town where animals mix freely with humans![/caption] Figure of eight bike ride yesterday around the outskirts of my town. 9 miles (still feeling the 23 miles from Saturday!). No photos, just a quick spin session. However, one of those Facebook memories came up from last year where we visited a nice town called Brockenhurst in the New Forest. Lovely little place smack bang in the middle of the National Park. The reason it caught my eye was a picture…

28May 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 8 – a story of nurses, trees and Canada

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email In the first update of this series, I explained that I kept my diary going, but again, only on my public Facebook page, so I was prompted to document these on my blog site to cater for those not on Facebook who only see what I produce in blog format. But it’s my intention to also post these on my other public Facebook sites. Because I was self isolating, Chris was also isolating under the rules and she was also feeling under the weather. During our self isolation period, the government ordered a “lock-down” (a bit like the shelter in place term used in USA) but out of self isolation, we were still…

13May 2020 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 5 – A story of greenery, sun, adventure and Irrfan

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email This is the fifth part of a new series entitled: Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions – A story of greenery, sun, adventure and Irrfan During my self imposed isolation of 14 days after developing "a new and continuous cough", I documented almost daily during this period but only on my public Facebook page entitled "my 14 day self isolation diary" - I compiled it here - click here to read. In the first update of this series, I explained that I kept my diary going, but again, only on my public Facebook page, so I was prompted to document these on my blog site to cater…

11May 2020 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 4 – A story of bikes, ponies, wisteria and Vitamin D

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email This is the fourth part of a new series entitled Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions.During my self imposed isolation of 14 days after developing "a new and continuous cough", I documented almost daily during this period but only on my public Facebook page entitled "my 14 day self isolation diary" - I compiled it here - click here to read.In the first update of this series, I explained that I kept my diary going, but again, only on my public Facebook page, so I was prompted to document these on my blog site to cater for those not on Facebook who only see what I produce…

04May 2020 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 3 – An injection, hair cut and a broken tooth

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

[caption id="attachment_17894" align="aligncenter" width="623"] Aged 18 - that's me on the left. My hair is currently as long as it's been since then![/caption] This is the third part of a new series entitled Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions. During my self imposed isolation of 14 days after developing "a new and continuous cough", I documented almost daily during this period but only on my public Facebook page entitled "my 14 day self isolation diary" - I compiled it here - click here to read. In the first update of this series, I explained that I kept my diary going, but again, only on my public Facebook page, so I was prompted to document these on my blog site to cater for those not on Facebook…

25Apr 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 2 – the bench walk

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

This is the second part of a new series entitled Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions. During my self imposed isolation of 14 days after developing "a new and continuous cough", I documented almost daily during this period but only on my public Facebook page entitled "my 14 day self isolation diary" - I compiled it here - click here to read. In the first update of this series, I explained that I kept my diary going, but again, only on my public Facebook page, so I was prompted to document these on my blog site to cater for those not on Facebook who only see what I produce in blog format. But it's my intention to also post these on my other public Facebook sites. Because…

23Apr 2020 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Ronny Allan: Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer during COVID-19 restrictions 1 – out of isolation

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

It's been over a week since I came out of my self imposed isolation of 14 days after developing "a new and continuous cough". Although I'm much better now, nothing has really changed in that I'm sticking to my own property pretty much all of the time. In case you missed my 14 day self isolation diary - I compiled it here - click here to read. Since coming out of isolation, we've been for a couple of government mandated walks from our house (max 1 hour) - it's fairly easy to find empty streets and lanes around here, so we're quite lucky. I did notice people keeping a wide berth of each other - very sensible. In UK, we're worried about our Prime Minister, no nation likes their leader…

06Feb 2020 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: The Perfect Storm

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email As featured by Neuroendocrine Cancer UK (formerly NET Patient Foundation)It's well known that Neuroendocrine Cancer can often be a difficult to diagnose condition. However, what is less well known is the impact it has on those who are diagnosed. I'm one of the lucky ones, even though I still ended up with distant metastases. It does feel odd to say that having distant metastasis is lucky!I consider my diagnosis to have been incidental as they were not investigating cancer - I suspect that's the route for many cancer patients. I also think I was lucky because I had instant access to Neuroendocrine Cancer specialists and got quick treatment, and my…

31Oct 2019 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Double, Double Toil and Trouble

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Double Neuroendocrine Cancer is a complex and difficult disease to diagnose, many people struggle with symptoms for some time before they are formally diagnosed. Some continue to struggle after diagnosis. There are many facets that can confound a physician - at diagnosis and beyond. Double Toil If it's not enough just to have tumours growing inside your body, this cancer can also be uncannily quiet delaying diagnosis. At the same time, the tumours can still be 'functional' and over-secrete certain hormones to add or introduce symptoms which mimic many other diseases or conditions, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Menopause, Heart disease and Asthma - also delaying diagnosis. In addition to common symptoms of flushing and diarrhea, others include generally feeling weak, fatigued, pain, agitated, anxious, dizzy, nauseous, acid reflux,…

04Sep 2019 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

The Other 5 E’s

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Those who know about the 5 E's of (so called) carcinoid syndrome will get the meaning of this story straight away. For those unaware of those 5 E's, read about them here. I sometimes need motivating and it's really easy to put off doing 'hard things', instead opting for your comfort zone of staying at home. It's often easier to say "I can't" than it is to say "I can". And yet, each time I hesitate about saying "I can", I always end up refreshed, enthused, and happy I didn't say "I can't". So this is the story of the my daytrip at the end of summer (and pretty much…

21Jul 2019 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Cancer can kill but so can fake cures

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

No matter where you look on social media, there are millions of sites claiming that 'this' and 'that' can cure cancer. If you analyse some of the things that can apparently 'cure' cancer, you will normally find that behind these fantasies, there is someone selling something, a book, a video, a product. I was also interested to read a number of articles about various aspects of this modern phenomenon. Firstly in the magazine Wired, a major media company was forced to take down some cancer therapy videos after someone pointed out they were not scientifically factual. Not just patients who get fooled by these claims then? Much of the misinformation arrives via Facebook, and YouTube, two of the most commonly used social media tools. This article suggests a shockingly large…

08Jun 2019 by Ronny Allan No Comments

New Radiotracer Can Identify Nearly 30 Types of Cancer – SNMMI – 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT

Clinical Trials, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

[caption id="attachment_15259" align="aligncenter" width="840"] see citation below[/caption] New radiotracer can identify nearly 30 types of cancer (including NETs). Future potential for therapeutic application. This is a different type of radiotracer being currently being used in the approved market for NETs. It's availability and timeline is not yet known. Date: June 7, 2019 Source: Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Summary: A novel class of radiopharmaceuticals has proven effective in non-invasively identifying nearly 30 types of malignant tumors. Using 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT, researchers were able to image the tumors with very high uptake and image contrast, paving the way for new applications in tumor characterization, staging and therapy. Red more here. https://www.snmmi.org/NewsPublications/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=31744 Watch this space for more data on availability timeline and what type of NETs were used in the trial…

23Apr 2019 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Clinical Trial: Treatment of IBS with diarrhoea – titrated ondansetron (TRITON)

Clinical Trials, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

I was never diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) but sometimes I feel like I now have it. I know many others feel the same way. But when I look at the alternatives, I can't help thinking it's a small price to pay given that one of them might be a slow degrading quality of life until shuffling off this mortal coil. If I had the choice again, I would still take the surgery. Before the article continues, let me be clear - I'm not suggesting this is a potential treatment for NET patients with post abdominal surgery side effects or side effects of any other treatment, nor am I suggesting it's a potential treatment for those with carcinoid syndrome diarrhea. I publish it because there is a connection to…

18Apr 2019 by Ronny Allan 6 Comments

I’m not sick, I just have cancer

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Opinion. I receive many messages from people across the world. Recently, one person asked me if I saw myself as a sick person. I found it a really interesting question because someone with cancer must be sick, right? When I was diagnosed, I really didn’t feel unwell, not how I thought a Stage 4 cancer patient would feel and not even ill enough to consider myself a 'sick person'. Prior to that, I suppose like everyone else on the planet, I had normal day-to-day stuff come along but that always settled in days or weeks. But never enough to call myself a sick person other than as a temporary label.…

11Mar 2019 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: No one gets it until they get it

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Over the years of my advocating, I've tried to explain Neuroendocrine Cancer to many people outside the community. Some 'get it' but many don't. Most understand 'Cancer', they have real difficultly understanding 'Neuroendocrine'. Despite how hard I try, I can see that some of them just don't get it! One of the challenges of explaining Neuroendocrine Cancer is the sheer complexity and spectrum of types. It's a heterogeneous grouping of cancers ranging from some quite indolent versions through to very aggressive versions similar to many dangerous adenocarcinomas. Unlike many of the more understood cancers, Neuroendocrine Cancer can literally appear anywhere in the body, adding to an already complex description, in…

22Feb 2019 by Ronny Allan No Comments

“I Knew There Was Something Wrong, But I Didn’t Know What” — A Nurse Shares Her Cancer Story

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Judy Golz is a retired registered nurse — she’s also a neuroendocrine cancer survivor. Like many nurses who get cancer, their experience in working in the healthcare industry possibly helps get a quicker diagnosis, possibly because they can recognise symptoms and likely differential diagnoses and it possibly helps knowing how the healthcare system works. But with uncommon and complex diseases, it's not always that straightforward, even for a nurse or any other healthcare professional. But Judy makes an excellent point about the quantity and quality of medical information now out there, including for Neuroendocrine Cancer and suggested she would be in a better place for self-diagnosis today. Two things spring to mind about this story. Neuroendocrine Cancer is such a complex disease, it can often be hard for healthcare professionals to…

14Feb 2019 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Letter from America

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

I've always been one to keep an eye out for the postman (the postie as we say here). Even as a heavy user of computers, I still get excited about receiving 'paper' mail. Other than birthday cards, I personally don't tend to see many handwritten letters nowadays. In today's internet connected world, handwritten letters are always exciting, always special. However, the one I received in the first week of February 2019 was extra special, it was postmarked from North Carolina USA. Now ….. for those around the same age as me, you might have been attracted by the article header and have remembered the famous radio show entitled "Letter from America". This was a weekly fifteen minute speech radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and across the world through…

20Dec 2018 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

Q-Sphera™ – Next Generation Somatostatin Analogue delivery system?

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

In my article listing the somatostatin analogues and their drug delivery systems pipeline (click here), there has been a very interesting development in a product called Q-Sphera (was previously known as Q-Octreotide). In a press release, it was announced that an unnamed 'pharma giant' has signed a deal with Midatech Pharma Plc that will see it evaluate the latter’s Q-Sphera drug delivery platform. Later in Feb 2019, the pharma was identified as China Medical System Holdings Limited (based out of Hong Kong). Adding to the excitement behind this development, it was announced in Mar 2019 that the Spanish Government had conditionally approved a €6.6m loan that will be used to help commercialise this flagship drug. Latest update 8th January 2020. Midatech Pharma PLC has hailed the positive results from a…

30Nov 2018 by Ronny Allan No Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter Covering November 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Summary for November 2018 NET News 1. I supported the annual NET Cancer Day event in my own style, contributing SIGNIFICANTLY to both Facebook and Twitter social media platforms. My twitter accounts were the biggest contributors to the #LETsTalkAboutNETs and #NeuroendocrineCancer hashtags for several days straddling the 10th Nov and between this and my Facebook account, I accounted for a significant proportion of the data recently published by INCA. I almost got to my 1 million 'reach' on twitter in ONE WEEK straddling NET Cancer Day (see below) - just a wee Scottish guy with a less common disease and a computer. Curiously not mentioned by INCA in their recent newsletter. So I thought I'd mention it instead. Mind you, every day is NET Cancer Day on my social media…

21Nov 2018 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – is normally slow growing BUT …..

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

I have a lot of be thankful for - I'm still here for starters! BUT ......… here's a list of 10 things I'm NOT thankful to Neuroendocrine Cancer for! Thanks for growing inside me for years before making your vague announcement Sorry too late, I'm metastatic and around 50% of patients will be at diagnosis (so I'm not alone!). It's very SNEAKY! No thanks for making a right mess inside my body! I mean, I look really good, I look really well, but you should see my INSIDES No thanks for generating fibrosis throughout my mesentery and retroperitoneum! I really didn’t know what to make of this issue at diagnosis, although I did know the aorta was pretty important! Fortunately I had a surgeon who had operated on many NET…

01Nov 2018 by Ronny Allan No Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter Covering October 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Summary for October 2018 NET News Several headlines covering the past month: 1. The annual NANETS symposium took place last month and I constructed an article of several important outputs. One day I might make it there, been to ENETS twice. Would love to attend UKINETS but they don't seem very 'patient' friendly. 2. I spoke alongside IPSEN Pharma SAS (Global HQ) at the annual Eye for Pharma Patient Summit. It was an honour and a privilege to stand in front of 200 people to tell my personal story plus my involvement in LivingWithNETs.com. The audience was a mix of the Pharmaceutical industry, Healthcare industry and Patient Advocates from many different illnesses. A fantastic and real awareness opportunity which is part of my promise to take NET awareness to new…

20Oct 2018 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

How to Talk to a Cancer Patient Without Being a Complete Twit

General, Humour, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

I enjoyed reading "8 rules on how to talk to a cancer patient" because I think much of it is written with 'tongue in cheek'. Great title! In UK we might even spell the word 'twit' slightly differently (UK people will get it!). Some of the rules are directed at doctors and I'm sure some doctors will laugh (if you're a doctor and you didn't laugh, sorry). I think one or two are a bit harsh and could potentially backfire and at least one I partly disagree with. Personally I try to balance my reactions to not come over as a 'pity party' and something which is genuinely offensive or upsetting to me as a cancer patient. I appreciate understanding and empathy, perhaps sympathy, but I certainly don't want pity.…

11Oct 2018 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Living with Cancer – Worrier or Warrior?

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

If you only believe what you see on social media, you would probably classify cancer patients into two main groups, warriors or worriers. I guess people have, or adopt, these traits from their cancer experience but I suspect many people are simply 'wired' that way. I also believe there are many people who have a bit of both, perhaps slanting to mostly warrior or worrier, I mean who doesn't worry about a single thing? However, the extent of worrying can often have a negative effect on quality of life. You're not going to stop worrying by simply reading this article but if you read no further, at least check out the lead graphic, it might help putting things into perspective. Warriors I used to do that for a living…

10Oct 2018 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – Short Update from NANETS 2018

Clinical Trials, Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

I would love to go to a NANETS conference but I would need sponsorship or otherwise have to fund my own way there. Seattle sounds like a great place to visit. I would even have been their twitter correspondent had they asked! I've been to the European equivalent twice, they always have theirs in Barcelona it would seem, at least NANETS uses different locations making it more interesting. It's a scientific conference for the most part, but I guess some basic stuff is also covered. However, in the world of instant contact and communications on the internet, together with twitter, one can keep up to speed on what is or has been discussed. One day, NANETS and ENETS will be sufficiently advanced that we can all watch the presentations from…

08Oct 2018 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – on your bike!

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

[caption id="attachment_13876" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Get on your bike![/caption] There's a Brit saying known as "on your bike" (sometimes colloquially called "on yer bike"). It basically means "go away and stop bothering me" but there are other definitions including some 'Anglo-Saxon' versions (I won't repeat those here!) When I moved to my current home in 2012, the removals lorry unloaded our rather dusty bikes (pedal cycles) and stuffed them in the garage where they mostly remained until this year. A couple of months ago, I dusted them off, repaired punctures etc, and basically started putting them to better use. In fact, Chris got a new one out of the deal! I'm reasonably fit (considering) but finding it so easy to opt for the sofa and there's always something worth watching on…

01Oct 2018 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter Covering September 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Summary for September 2018 NET News Several headlines covering the past month: 1. The annual NANETS symposium kicks off in a few days. I'm hoping to bring you news from the event (remotely, I won't be there) and perhaps a summary in next month's newsletter. 2. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a proposal on their desk to harmonise the grading structure for all types of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NEN). I've actually been ahead of the game for over a year since I found out this was coming and it's reflected in my 18 month old post on Staging and Grading. Be careful where you look as many are still behind the curve on this issue. Their proposals are interesting as they are recommending the final removal of the last vestiges…

17Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Don’t worry, it’s benign!

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

OPINION One of the most controversial aspects of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) is the ‘benign vs malignant’ question. It’s been widely debated and it frequently patrols the various patient forums and other social media platforms. It raises emotions and it triggers many responses ….. at least from those willing to engage in the conversation. At best, this issue can cause confusion, at worst, it might contradict what new patients have been told by their physicians (….or not been told). This post will not cover Neuroendocrine Carcinoma which by definition is malignant. Any definition of the word 'tumour' will confirm it can either be benign or malignant. However, and while I'm sure there are benign NETs, the key statement to explain any slow growing or indolent NET is that they all have…

16Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Diabetes – The NET Effect

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

My chest infection is now settled, as too is the excitement and apprehension behind my first ever Ga68 PET - the outcome of that is still a work in progress. Earlier this year, my thyroid 'lesion' on watch and wait was given a 'damping down' with the prescription of a thyroid hormone supplement but I await a re-ignition of that small bush fire downstream. Bubbling behind the scenes and clamoring for attention is the spiking of my blood glucose test results and I was very recently declared 'at risk' for diabetes One of my followers entitled a post in my group with "The hits keep coming" in reference to encountering yet another problem in the journey with Neuroendocrine Cancer. I now know how she feels, this issue is a bit…

03Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer is not a ‘type’ of another Cancer ….. PERIOD!

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

Now the dust has settled on the death and funeral of Neuroendocrine Cancer patient Aretha Franklin, the community needs to review the strategy for how we explain the nomenclature of Neuroendocrine Cancer to outsiders including the media, and including doctors. About 95% of the articles I read about Aretha Franklin stated she had Pancreatic Cancer. Only a few quoted her physician who clumsily said "Pancreatic Cancer of the Neuroendocrine Type". Her death certificate quoted "Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Cancer". Despite this, the media outlet which published her death certificate still led the article with the headline "Pancreatic Cancer". Exactly the same thing happened with Steve Jobs and a few others. And that's only the ones we know about - how many other pe0ple are being labelled and documented with the wrong cancer…

31Aug 2018 by Ronny Allan No Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter Covering August 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

[caption id="attachment_13604" align="aligncenter" width="959"] RIP Aretha Franklin - Neuroendocrine Cancer[/caption] Summary for August 2018 NET News Several headlines covering the past month: 1. The death of Aretha Franklin was a shock to her many fans around the world, including myself. I had no idea she was a Neuroendocrine Cancer patient. However, it would appear her death is being assigned as 'Pancreatic Cancer' mainly due to a rather clumsy statement from her physician. Despite the fact that her death certificate specifically confirms Neuroendocrine Cancer, we will be fighting a hard battle for years to come. The same thing happened with Steve Jobs, although I suspect we have now won that battle despite frequently news articles saying Pancreatic Cancer. Read about Aretha Franklin here and check out the link to her death…

30Aug 2018 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

64Cu-DOTATATE – a potential expansion of the Somatostatin Receptor PET Imaging for Neuroendocrine Cancer?

Clinical Trials, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

Edit 10 Jan 2019: RadioMedix and Curium Announce FDA Fast Track Designation For 64Cu-Dotatate. Read more by clicking here. Edit 22 Aug 2019. US FDA announced approval of Ga68 DOTATOC. There's an overlap to this story. Read more here. Curium and RadioMedix Inc. announce an exclusive agreement to develop and commercialize 64Cu-Dotatate, an investigational positron emission tomography (PET) diagnostic agent for patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs). RadioMedix is currently engaged in Phase III clinical trials of the agent and expects to file a New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration in 2019. This partnership builds on the initial development work conducted by RadioMedix and will benefit from Curium’s regulatory, manufacturing, distribution, and commercial expertise. The radionuclide is not new, it's been in use for some time, mainly in…

16Aug 2018 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

Aretha Franklin 1942-2018: Neuroendocrine Cancer

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email On 16th Aug 2018, Publicist Gwendolyn Quinn told The Associated Press through a family statement that Franklin passed at her home in Detroit. The statement said "Franklin's official cause of death was due to advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin's oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute" in Detroit. Clearly he meant Neuroendocrine Cancer with a pancreatic primary. However, in the fast moving social media world, this is what went out with the lazier writers and editors abbreviating it to just Pancreatic Cancer. All of these incorrect posts will now be embedded in the bowels of the internet and used for years to…

30Jul 2018 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter JULY 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Summary for July Personal News Another unusual month, after a bizarre June. The chest infection has gone but still awaiting results of an x-ray to confirm. July was supposed to be partly holiday but that was cancelled due to illness. The chest infection caused a 4kg weight loss and only half of this has returned to date. I also got the results of my first ever Ga68 PET Scan and this resulted in an article below. No longer a boring stable patient but nothing that needs doing imminently. Many thanks to all the messages which continue to arrive both public and privately, I'm most grateful. I received my 100th Lanreotide earlier in the month and I'm still here following my 8 year 'cancerversary' on 26 July 2018. Many of you…

21Jul 2018 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Ga68 PET Scan – a game changer?

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

When I was offered my very first Ga68 PET/CT at a 6 monthly surveillance meeting in May 2018, I was both excited and apprehensive. Let me explain below why I had a mix of emotions. You can read about my Ga68 PET experience here. I was diagnosed in 2010 with metastatic NETs clearly showing on CT scan, the staging was confirmed via an Octreotide Scan which in addition pointed out two further deposits above the diaphragm (one of which has since been dealt with). In addition to routine surveillance via CT scan, I had two further Octreotide Scans in 2011 and 2013 following 3 surgeries, these confirmed the surveillance CT findings of remnant disease. The third scan in 2013 highlighted an additional lesion in my thyroid (still under a watch…

17Jul 2018 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Fibrosis – an unsolved mystery?

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Background It has long been observed that certain Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) are often associated with their ability to secrete hormones and these substances are thought to be responsible for the collection of symptoms which include (but not limited to) diarrhea, flushing and wheezing. One of the lesser known aspects of this disease is the development of fibrosis, both local and distant. These fibrotic complications may lead to considerable morbidity. They can also result in incidental diagnoses of NETs after causing abdominal obstructions. The most well known form of fibrosis is 'Hedinger Syndrome' (so-called Carcinoid Heart Disease) tightly associated with midgut NETs and will not be covered further. However, mesenteric fibrosis…

08Jul 2018 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

“What are you doing this afternoon”

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

On 8th July 2010, I was sat in front of a secondary care consultant, his speciality was colorectal. I asked specifically for this consultant for two reasons, firstly, he carried out a colonoscopy some 20 months previously which turned out to be negative. Secondly, my GP had referred me to the iron deficiency anaemia clinic, and they wanted to do ….. a colonoscopy. I changed that plan because this "non-issue" was dragging on; quite frankly I wanted it to be resolved quickly, and I wanted it to be resolved in my favour - after all, I wasn't actually ill! Rewind two months, I had an incidental set of blood tests ordered by a nurse following a routine visit to my local medical centre (....... "I think I've lost a bit…

03Jul 2018 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

177Lu-DOTA-EB-TATE – Long-lasting radionuclide therapy for advanced neuroendocrine tumors proves effective

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

For your information only. In the News. Since PRRT was formally approved last year in USA and Europe (and other places), it's triggered a whole mini-industry in PRRT variants or enhancements. An interesting study from China, a country starting to become very active in the NET world. I guess they have been active for some time given that I've seen their NET experts presenting at the last 2 years of ENETS in Barcelona. In this particular study, there is linkages to the Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, NIBIB/NIH, Bethesda, Maryland in USA. This is news of a first-in-human study presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) which demonstrated the benefits and safety of a new, long-lasting type of radionuclide therapy…

02Jul 2018 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter JUNE 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Summary for June For the first time in 3 years, I didn't write any new articles in a single month (other than the monthly newsletter). This was due to a prolonged chest infection from which I'm still recovering. I'm so much better now (thankfully) but I suspect recovery has been slightly hampered by the recent UK heatwave. I managed a relaxing short break on the south coast of England to make up for my cancelled 3 week road trip to Scotland My weight remains below 10 stone, the lightest I have been for over 30 years. For me, weight loss is a red flag, although this occurrence wasn't sufficient for me to start waving one. I will get the results of my Ga68 PET scan on 11 July (please note…

07Jun 2018 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter May 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Summary for May Different type of intro to my newsletter as it's late due to unexpected illness. In some ways, what happened in May is possibly connected. I had quite a bit of work to do for a 'Patients Included' event in May in Berlin. I managed to meet the deadlines and admit I was slightly out of my comfort zone. That said, it was a success and I managed an amazing amount of new contacts and awareness for Neuroendocrine Cancer. I arrived back exhausted and turned my attention to another two things - a patient presentation to the inaugural UK Dietitian Group study day followed by a holiday to Wales. The study day was done on the way to my holiday, was very successful and I enjoyed it. …

31May 2018 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments

Gallium 68 PET Scans – Into the Unknown

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

OPINION Cancer is a growth industry ...literally! More people are being diagnosed than ever before. Fortunately, more people are surviving than ever before. This is against a backdrop of better awareness, better screening in the big population cancers, and to a certain extent better diagnostic tools, all of which is leading to earlier diagnosis. So how does this affect Neuroendocrine Cancer? According to the latest SEER database figures for Neuroendocrine Cancer, one reason for the 7 fold increase in incidence rates since the 1970s is all of those things above including better diagnostics. This has led to a revised set of epidemiological information in many countries that have made the effort to accurately update their cancer registries and there are consistent reports of incidence rates way beyond the recognised rare…

30Apr 2018 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter April 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Headlines 1. Patients Included. I'm a big believer that patients should be included in all aspects of healthcare and I can very much relate to any initiative that promotes this. I'm therefore pleased to have been listed as a Patients Included accredited site providing further EXTERNAL awareness opportunities - read about this here. 2. I've accepted an appointment to the Strategic Advisory Board on MultiMed Inc, the owner of Cancer Knowledge Network based in Canada who have featured my articles in the past (https://cancerkn.com/) - It also publishes a magazine called Current Oncology which is Medline listed. This is not a NET site but my inclusion will no doubt raise the profile for us. Read more here. 3. My blog site is 4 years old. When I set my blog…

03Apr 2018 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter March 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Headline for the period of March 2018 is reaching a milestone of half a million blog views. Yay ...... Read more here. Amazing that I clicked over the 500,000 mark in a taxi going from Barcelona airport to my hotel for ENETS 2018 where I'd been sponsored by INCA. Fortunately I had prepared the post earlier and was able to spread the news in a few clicks. I picked up some great information at this conference which I'm feeding into my articles so you get the best and latest thinking. Here's a couple of pictures of me with famous NET specialists. [caption id="attachment_12597" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dr James Yao[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12598" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dr Jonathan Strosberg[/caption] I caught this news in my social media NET A website I helped design with a…

05Mar 2018 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter February 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Another great start to the year in both NETs in the news and my social media activity. It's been really cold where I am though! I'm so busy with personal contacts, I decided to set up a chat room so that other people can help me answer some really difficult questions! This 'chat rom' is not designed to run like a traditional Facebook forum, it's a place to make people feel safe and to discuss without the usual distractions and dramas that people often encounter. And .... it's about learning. I welcome all types of NET, people from any country and I also welcome carers/caregivers and medical people (I already have a few of the latter). It's also a place where I will bring in expertise to chat about various…

20Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

Update – Oncolytic Virus Trials for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Clinical Trials, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

What exactly are Oncolytic Viruses? Oncolytic Viruses infects and breaks down cancer cells but not normal cells. Oncolytic viruses can occur naturally or can be made in the laboratory by changing other viruses. Certain oncolytic viruses are being studied in the treatment of cancer. Some scientists say they are another type of immunotherapy whilst others say it's too early to classify as such. The good news is that Neuroendocrine Cancer seems to figure in this work with two of these viruses apparently working on mice to date. Listed below are two active projects involving NETs, one directly and one indirectly. The Uppsala Trial - AdVince [caption id="attachment_12315" align="aligncenter" width="480"] The Oncolytic Virus AdVince is removed from the freezer ready for the Neuroendocrine Cancer Trial[/caption] Read here for an update released…

18Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments

Things to do today

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

When you live with any illness, getting through the day can be tough. Trying to get a diagnosis, dealing with a diagnosis, undergoing treatment and then learning to recover and adapt. I've been living with my condition for almost 8 years and I'm a big advocate of keeping busy, keeping active and keeping my mind occupied. Despite this, there are times with a chronic disease, an invisible disease, an incurable and long-term disease including cancer, occasionally just doing nothing can be very productive in the long term! Of course, sometimes you have little choice if you're ill from your condition or something routine. So now and then, I just breathe in and breathe out (then repeat). It's very enjoyable! Take a break if you need one. Thanks for reading Ronny…

12Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Don’t be underactive with your Thyroid surveillance

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

From other posts, you'll be aware of the thyroid lesion (now 17x19mm) which I've been tracking since 2013. The surveillance has included routine thyroid blood tests, mainly TSH, T3 and 4. Due to trends in TSH and T4, it's been suggested I'm borderline hypothyroidism. I'm out of range in TSH (elevated) but the T4 is currently at the lower end of the normal range. On 20 March 2018, following an Endocrine appointment, I was put on a trial dose of 50mcg of Levothyroxine to counter the downwards trend in results indicating hypothyroidism. Levothyroxine is essentially a thyroid hormone (thyroxine) replacement. One month after taking these drugs, my thyroid blood levels are now normal for the first time in 4 years (since there are records of test results - it might…

01Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter January 2018

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

A great start to the year in both NETs in the news and my social media activity. Of course the headline is the US FDA approval of Lutathera (Lu-177) - i.e. PRRT I caught this news in my social media NET FDA finally approves PRRT in USA. Long awaited and has caused much excitement on all forms of social media. I'm very pleased for my USA friends but we mustn't forget it's also required in so many other places. Help me populate locations in my live article on PRRT click here. NET Epidemiology continues to be discussed and (yet) another well known NET expert confirms my 2 year old article saying that the disease can no longer be considered rare. I suspect more dominoes will follow. Click here for the evidence. MIDATECH Pharma…

30Jan 2018 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

I now take food with my medicine!

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email If you want to strike up a friendly conversion with a Brit, ask him or her about the weather - we're really famous for our weather conversations and they normally focus on rain or clouds! However, despite the famous British 'reserve' and 'stiff upper lip', they also frequently talk about being 'under the weather', a phrase meaning slightly unwell or in low spirits.I find myself smiling at some of the conversations I hear in medical establishment waiting rooms, particularly the potentially long wait for blood tests. Here, conversations bypass the weather and focus on being under the weather! I thought I was a regular when I started to recognise people…

26Jan 2018 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

BREAKING NEWS – US FDA Approves Lutetium Lu 177 dotatate (Lutathera®) – PRRT?

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

PRRT was approved in USA on 26 Jan 2018. The approval is for the treatment of somatostatin receptor positive gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), including foregut, midgut, and hindgut neuroendocrine tumors in adults. CLICK HERE. The extended access program (trial) is no longer offered but these locations should be ahead of the game in terms of provision, notwithstanding insurance and provision of sufficient nuclear material. Read more about PRRT by clicking here Thanks for reading Ronny I’m also active on Facebook. Like my page for even more news. I’m also building up this site here: Ronny Allan Disclaimer My Diagnosis and Treatment History Most Popular Posts Sign up for my twitter newsletter Remember ….. in the war on Neuroendocrine Cancer, let’s not forget to win the battle for better quality of life! Please Share this post

15Jan 2018 by Ronny Allan 11 Comments

Shame on you!

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

I don't look ill. I didn't even look ill when I was diagnosed with metastatic and incurable Neuroendocrine Cancer. People have even told me I look better than many people my age who do not have an incurable disease! There's a bit of me which is very happy with that predicament, although I'd rather look less good and not have cancer. Many cancer patients have illnesses that cannot be seen, they are invisible. I know quite a lot of cancer patients who don't look ill but I know they have a life threatening disease and things could change quickly. For example, some cancer patients who look really well can need quick access to facilities such as toilets as side effects can sometimes not only be instant but also painful. Some…

11Jan 2018 by Ronny Allan 27 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer and Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) – the Digested Version (Nutrition Series Article 5)

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

After 7 years of avoiding pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), I finally asked for some on a trial basis at the end of 2017. To be honest, for some time, I thought they were really only needed in the NET world for those with pancreatic issues (pNETs). I've always known I've had some digestive issues related to malabsorption. However, I'm not losing weight - this has been stable for some years (but see below). Plus my key vitamin levels (B12 and D) are in range. However, I had been struggling with a lot of bloating issues, thus the trial. You know me, I like to research and analyse such things! I've actually written about a lot of these issues in my Nutrition series ..... so this is now 'Article Number…

31Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

6 HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to Ronny Allan's Community newsletter for December 2017. A quieter month due to the holiday season in the latter half. I was generally quieter in the first half too, maybe that's a good thing? Nonetheless, I still managed to accumulate nearly 20,000 hits this month. At the end of 2017, I've been reflecting on the amazing support from you guys. I'm a bit 'discombobulated' but also proud to see that I've had an amazing quarter of a million hits on my blog site in 2017 alone, double the 2016 figure. It seems almost impossible to carry that momentum on in 2018 but I'll give it a go! Check out my top 6 posts of 2017 by clicking here. AND ..... I'm now officially ronnyallan.NET…

30Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

NET Cancer Blog – Top 6 posts of 2017

Awareness, Diet and Nutrition, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

These are my top performing posts for 2017 - comprising one eighth of my entire hits for the year. My blog hits for 2017 almost reached a quarter of a million, double that of 2016 which was double that of 2015. A chunk of these figures can be attributed to most of these articles. Please share to maintain the momentum. Top 6 posts for 2017 (Click on each article title to read) Short Description Hits in 2017 The Human Anatomy of Neuroendocrine Cancer Making the point that Neuroendocrine Cancer is not confined to a particular part of the body 9,906 Neuroendocrine Cancer Syndromes – Early Signs of a Late Diagnosis All about syndromes 7,546 Neuroendocrine Neoplasms – Grade and Stage (incorporating WHO 2017 changes) The very latest information (particularly about…

20Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – surveillance and follow up

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Since 2010 I've had a lot of survellance and testing. More than people can imagine. I can see from various comments on my public pages and posts within my private group, that some people get a lot more than me. It's not true to say we all get the same, there are many factors including stage, grade, type of Neuroendocrine Neoplasm, healthcare system, miscallenous problems, therapy, even age. In the first year or two after diagnosis, I seemed to be a continuous testing phase but that was mainly due to seeing so many different doctors for so many different issues. In reality I was seeing and being assessed by my Oncologist around 3 month intervals, eventually moving to four. After that I moved to 6 months but due to issues…

12Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Update: Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

This is an excellent and positive video based overview of where we are with the Management of NETs. This is a presentation from a NET Specialist (who some of you may know) presenting to a "GI Malignancies" conference. This is therefore not only awareness of NETs, it's also some good education for non NET GI experts who may only know the very basics. Useful for patients too! I met Dr Strosberg in Barcelona (ENETS 2017) and thanked him for his presentational and scientific paper output which I often use in my articles. The classification picture is good as it explains the different facets of NETs and how NETs are classified and categorised in a general way - not seen it done this way before. Slightly out of date as…

04Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Welcome to Ronny Allan's Community newsletter for November 2017. A very strong beginning of the month due to massive support for my Halloween themed but very serious and hard-hitting post "Neuroendocrine Tumors - no treats, just tricks". If you've not seen it or commented on it, check it out here on the Facebook site (currently 724 shares). I suspect the number of shares will never be beaten (there were 652 within 36 hours) and as far as I know perhaps this is now the most shared NET awareness post ever on social media. The support for this single post was so phenomenal; it actually eclipsed my entire NET Cancer Day effort on 10 Nov! I am so grateful to those who made that happen ♥ That said, I was actually pretty…

20Nov 2017 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer – the 7 Year Itch

Awareness, Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Treatment

I quite like the Facebook memory thing. This morning I got a reminder of a post I made from 7 years ago whilst I was in hospital recovering from my 9 Nov surgery. It had taken 12 days for me to feel strong enough to venture onto social media with a simple message "I'm feeling perkier". For those not familiar with English localisms, it just means lively, spirited, bright, sunny, cheerful, animated, upbeat, buoyant, bubbly, cheery, bouncy, genial, jaunty, chirpy, sprightly, vivacious, in fine fettle, full of beans, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I guess I met some of these descriptors most of the time! I had gotten through the worst and the light at the end of the tunnel was now a faint glimmer. I've recently had a ton of '7…

01Nov 2017 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Hi NETworkers! Welcome to Ronny Allan's Community newsletter for October 2017. A very strong end of the month due to massive support for my Halloween themed but very serious and hard-hitting post "Neuroendocrine Tumors - no treats, just tricks". If you've not seen it or commented on it, check it out here on the Facebook site. I suspect the number of shares will never be beaten (652 in 36 hours). 31 Oct 2017 is now the biggest number of views on any one day, breaking the previous record set in Jan 2017. It also made October 2017 the highest monthly views ever. I am so grateful to those who made that happen ♥ What's in the NET News The following news items may be of interest: The huge (but expected) news…

24Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Round up of NANETS 2017 – Let’s talk about NETs #NANETS2017

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

NANETS (North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society) is one of the biggest NET conferences, bringing together NET Specialists from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (Tumors and Carcinomas). This is fairly complex stuff but much of it will be familiar to many. I’ve filtered out several outputs from the conference which I think are both relevant and topical to patients. The list is below allowing you to easily peruse and read further via linkages if you need to read more. Remember, some of these are extracts so do not contain all the details of the research or study – although some of the linkages will take you to in-depth information if that’s your bag. Where applicable, I’ve also linked…

16Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Neuroendocrine Neoplasms – Can they be cured?

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

OPINION: "Cured" - In cancer, this word can evoke a number of emotions. Interestingly, not all these emotions will be as positive as you might think. If you want to spark a heated debate on a Neuroendocrine Cancer patient forum, just mention that you've been cured. I'm not taking any sides by using this statement, just stating what actually happens and the deeply held views that persist in community held groups. One important factor in some of this thinking is that many people still remember the days where most diagnoses were late and many followed years of misdiagnoses for other conditions. But the latest statistics (which are now quite old) indicate things are changing. The massive increase in incidence rates indicates earlier diagnoses and it's true for many cancers, including…

08Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

The shock effect never wears off

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

Patient stories are key to any awareness campaign. Nothing like a human being standing up and letting you know about their experience. Many are positive examples of how they are overcoming their trials and tribulations, others tell stories of a struggle. They all have different styles, some are the 'kick ass' type stories, some are just thankful, some are reflective - all of them are perfectly acceptable. I normally like to place myself somewhere in the middle with phrases like "I'm still here", although I can veer left and right when the mood takes me! Because of my social media footprint, I get a lot of private messages from people across the globe. Many are from people who have no wish to go public and that's fine. Many are from…

02Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

Genetics and Neuroendocrine Tumors

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email In my article 'Ever wonder what caused your NET', I concluded that currently, the only known scientifically explained causes for NETs were hereditary/genetic in nature. This is mostly associated with those who have MEN syndromes (yes, they are a syndrome not a type of tumour) and a few other less common types of NET including Pheochomocytoma/Paraganglioma (Pheo/Para) and Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) (the familial version of MTC is often referred to as FMTC). However, please note this does not mean that all those diagnosed with pancreatic, parathyroid, pituarity, Pheo/Para and MTC tumours, will have any hereditary or genetic conditions, many will simply be sporadic tumors. In recent years, it has…