A spotlight on Gastric Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

A spotlight on Gastric Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

A spotlight on NENs - Types, Awareness, Patient Advocacy, Spotlight on NENs - Types Series, Treatment
What are Gastric NENsUnlike other anatomical types, the word Gastric is used to indicate a tumour (NET) or carcinoma (NEC) in the stomach.  The stomach lies at the bottom of your oesophagus and connects to the first part of the small intestine (the duodenum).  Clearly a key part of the gastrointestinal system, it processes food on its journey downwards.The stomach produces strong acid. This kills many microorganisms that might have been swallowed along with the food. It also contains special chemicals called enzymes. These are important for breaking down the food so it can be absorbed by the body. After it leaves the stomach, the partially digested food passed into the intestines where it begins to be absorbed.The main parts of the stomach are shown below (often this can give…
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Neuroendocrine Cancer – tumour markers and hormone levels

Neuroendocrine Cancer – tumour markers and hormone levels

Patient Advocacy
BackgroundI think most people have had a form of medical testing at some point in their life, i.e. the sampling and testing of blood, urine, saliva, stool or body tissue. In a nutshell, the medical staff are just measuring the content of a 'substance' and then taking a view whether this is normal or not based on pre-determined ranges. These tests are normally done as a physician's reaction to symptom presentation or maintenance/surveillance of an existing diagnosed condition. Sometimes, abnormal results will lead to more specialist tests.In cancer, these tests are frequently called 'markers'. Most tumour markers are made by normal cells as well as by cancer cells; however, they are produced at much higher levels in cancerous conditions. These substances can be found in the blood, urine, stool, tumour tissue,…
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