Epidemiology - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

22Jan 2023 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Neuroendocrine tumors are uncommon but definitely not rare

USA finally commits UK and Australian figures recently confirmed that Neuroendocrine Cancer is the 10th and 7th most common cancer type. It was great to see this post from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, albeit the USA is joining later than many other countries confirming the worst-kept secret ever - NETs are not rare. That said, several NET specialists in the USA have been more vocal about this (one example is below), much more so than the cancer organisations (including the ones who represent us) who disappointingly market the rare theme along with the antiquated use of words such as “carcinoid” which seems rifer in USA than many other parts of the world. USA is normally at the forefront of progress so let’s hope they will now get on with…

10Oct 2022 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Evidence of disease but stable

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

Musings from a metastatic NET patient of 12 years plus In every surveillance session I've had since diagnosis, there was always something to report. Much of it was old stuff that had been there since diagnosis which they are tracking (incidental findings). However, there is also stuff that they know is almost certainly NET but not doing much and not threatening me. That sentence alone probably translates to "stable". After a surveillance event in 2021, I was awarded the accolade of "reassuringly stable", a status which I was happy to accept! Words are very important to cancer patients, some people hang their hats on them and put their feet up, and some people google them until they are tied in a knot, still fraught with worry. Why can't doctors just…

02Sep 2021 by Ronny Allan 6 Comments

I thought I was going to die. I didn’t

Inspiration, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

I thought I was going to die, I didn't Opinion. It can be extremely hard to face a diagnosis of cancer and with that, an uncertain future. After treatment, there's worry about the cancer growing or coming back after a period of stability. BUT there is also the thought of dying of cancer. I think as you get older, you tend to begin to accept death is inevitable, or at least that is how I feel today, aged 65. I was diagnosed at the age of 54 which I guess in cancer terms, is still relatively young. I also suspect this fear must be multiplied in a much younger person. It's known that the lower grades of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) have fairly good outlooks but there are still many factors…

04Jan 2021 by Ronny Allan No Comments

The Invisibility of Appendiceal and Colorectal NETs – do the math

Patient Advocacy

Do the math not the myth In addition to my mountain of evidence against the so-called rarity of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms, a new study from US indicates that many NETs are hidden among colorectal cancer cases in cancer registries. The study reported extraordinary figures of NET cases found when analysing the data. For years, doctors have been warning about the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer amongst younger people. For that reason, the American Cancer Society recommended people to start screening at a younger age (45 years instead of 50 years) in 2018. This would affect 22 million Americans who now are recommended screening. Colorectal covers the large intestine including the sigmoid colon and rectal cases. You can read this article from the National Institute of Health covering the issue in US. …

14Aug 2017 by Ronny Allan 16 Comments

The Invisible NET Patient Population

Awareness

OPINIONI 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 Neoplasms (NENs) ever recorded and is therefore a good guide to what might be found beyond USA. 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 Neoplasms – not as rare as you think". However, most things I read indicate the figures were understated (words used by several NET specialists. Despite this date now being 8 years…