Tag: Epidemiology

14Aug 2017 by Ronny Allan 12 Comments

The Invisible NET Patient Population

Awareness, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Uncategorized

OPINION I found some of the quotes from the recent NET SEER Database study (Dasari et al) very interesting. The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program is a comprehensive source of population-based information initiated in 1973 that is updated annually. Although the study is US-based, it represents the largest study of Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs) ever recorded and is therefore a good guide to what might be found beyond USA. In fact, other national declarations of incidence and prevalence of NETs seem to bear these statistics out, i.e incidence rates of 7-8/100,000 ...... almost 7 times the rate recorded in the 1970s. If you want to understand the factors behind this massive increase, I covered this extensively in my post "Neuroendocrine Tumors – not as rare as…

Another year, another flu shot. Since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve had one each year. To me it’s really important protection even though I know it’s not 100% effective, it’s better than nothing. As someone who lives with metastatic and incurable Neuroendocrine Cancer, I know that my immune system may be compromised and having got this […]

Clinical Trials – PEN-221 for Neuroendocrine Cancer

What is PEN-221? Tarveda Therapeutics is discovering and developing a new class of potent and selective precision oncology medicines for the treatment of patients with various solid tumor malignancies. Their strategy includes developing their own proprietary Pentarin miniature conjugates to enhance the effectiveness of promising anti-cancer payloads that have struggled without their selective targeting to […]

Clinical Trials – ONC201 for Neuroendocrine Cancer (including Pheo/Para)

What is ONC201? A company called Oncoceutics is developing a novel class of safe and effective cancer therapies called imipridones. Imipridones have a unique three-ring core structure and selectively target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest class of membrane receptors and a common target of approved drugs that are underexploited in oncology. Despite being historically […]

The 5 E’s of my daytrip

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 […]

The case of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs Cancer

The news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) has been treated for ‘Pancreatic Cancer’ has hit the headlines and effectively gone viral. She is not only famous for being a member of the US Supreme Court, but also because she has had many bouts with cancer. What has also gone viral, but only in the […]

Clinical Trials – Surufatinib for Neuroendocrine Cancer (SANET)

I first heard about this drug at ENETS Barcelona 2017 and then again in 2018. It’s now starting to be discussed in USA including at the 2019 ASCO and more recently in the 2019 ESMO conference. It was known then as Sulfatinib but for reasons unclear to me it was changed later to Surufatinib. It’s a […]