24Aug 2019 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment
The Case of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs Cancer

The Case of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs Cancer

Awareness
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email UPDATE 18th SEPTEMBER 2020RIP Justice Ruth Bader GinsburgUPDATE 17 JULY 2020Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday that she had had a recurrence of cancer but had been undergoing chemotherapy that had shown “positive results”.  Justice Ginsburg, who is 87, said she had begun a course of chemotherapy on May 19, after a periodic scan in February followed by a biopsy revealed lesions on her liver.  She also stated that "Immunotherapy" first essayed proved unsuccessful, but the chemotherapy course is yielding positive results. She said a scan this month showed the liver lesions had been significantly reduced and that she is tolerating chemotherapy well.  Justice Ginsburg did not say where the tumours…
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03Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments
Neuroendocrine Cancer is not a ‘type’ of another Cancer ….. PERIOD!

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 that 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 type?I…
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11Sep 2017 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments
Categories, tissues and primary sites – the lost awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer

Categories, tissues and primary sites – the lost awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer

Awareness
BackgroundWhen you look at how cancer is classified and broken down, you can see why Neuroendocrine Neoplasm (the overarching term for Neuroendocrine Tumour and Neuroendocrine Carcinoma) often appears unlisted in certain websites and in certain clinical publications and press releases.  Below, I wanted to cover why that sometimes happens but also why that is undeservedly detrimental to Neuroendocrine Cancer awareness.Cancer ClassificationIn the vast majority of cancer epidemiological papers, it's clear that cancers are classified in two ways: by the type of tissue in which the cancer originates (histological type) and by primary site, or the location in the body where the cancer first developed.Cancer CategoriesFrom a histological standpoint, there are hundreds of different cancers, which are grouped into six major categories:CarcinomaSarcomaMyelomaLeukemiaLymphomaMixed TypesYou can now see why doctors often refer to NETs by…
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21Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment
Clinical Trial – Cabozantinib for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

Clinical Trial – Cabozantinib for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

Clinical Trials
What is Cabozantinib?Cabozantinib is an oral drug which works by blocking the growth of new blood vessels that feed a tumour. In addition to blocking the formation of new blood cells in tumours, Cabozantinib also blocks pathways that may be responsible for allowing cancers cells to become resistant to other "anti-angiogenic" drugs. It is a type of drug called a growth blocker.  Cabozantinib has been studied or is already in research studies as a possible treatment for various types of cancer, including prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, brain cancer, thyroid cancer, lung cancer, and kidney cancer. During my research, I found that it has a connection to Medullary Thyroid Cancer (MTC) which is a type of Neuroendocrine Cancer, frequently associated with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN).  Cabozantinib, under the brand name of 'Cometriq'…
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13Jun 2016 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Intra-Operative RadioTheraphy (IORT) for Neuroendocrine Cancer – new landmark treatment launch

Awareness, Treatment
[caption id="attachment_6231" align="aligncenter" width="500"] IORT[/caption] New treatments seem to be appearing every month and that is good news for patients.  I have a personal connection to this one though.  In 2014, Chris and I walked along Hadrian's Wall, a 2,000-year-old World Heritage structure in Northern England.  This was part therapy for me but also part fund-raising to help pay for this new treatment which launches today in Southampton General Hospital (UK) which was recently awarded the coveted title of European NET Centre of Excellence (along with Bournemouth and Portsmouth Hospitals).  It is the first ever deployment of this type of treatment in UK and Chris and I were happy to shred the soles of our feet to support this worthy cause, particularly when the two guys behind the idea were my surgeon (Mr Neil…
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28Jan 2016 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Innovation at Royal Free – Lung Biopsy and Radio Frequency Ablation Service

Treatment
[caption id="attachment_4852" align="alignleft" width="301"] Image with permission from Dr Sam Hare (www.lungdiagnosis.com)[/caption] A team of radiologists and respiratory consultants who introduced a new and more efficient lung biopsy method at Barnet Hospital London, has been named the winner of the NHS Innovation Challenge Prize in the ‘cancer care’ category.  Barnet Hospital is run by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust which is well known for its Neuroendocrine Cancer Centre of Excellence. Not happy with this, they've now gone on to introduce a new service combining this innovative biopsy system with Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) of tumours in the same procedure. Combined Biopsy with Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) This new service has significant advantages for those who have localised tumours less than 3cm and can't for whatever reason have surgery.  I've checked with…
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01May 2015 by Ronny Allan 34 Comments
Neuroendocrine – what’s that?

Neuroendocrine – what’s that?

Awareness, Patient Advocacy
Neuroendocrine??? what's that! I once met some fellow cancer advocates and the conversation turned to what inspired us to ‘do what we do’. When it came to my turn as the only Neuroendocrine Cancer patient, I was already prepared to regurgitate my usual 'spiel'. As sometimes happens, a listener queried me with the words "Neuroendocrine - what's that?".  Another focused on 'Neuro' enquiring whether my nervous system or my brain had somehow become cancerous. Deja vu - here we go again!Two days later, I was speaking to one of my online friends who was having similar problems explaining this cancer to family and friends. Again 'Neuro' was proving difficult with the assumption that it’s somehow related to the brain. Technically not far from the truth but context is really important given that most…
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10Feb 2015 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Turning a negative into a postive

General
[caption id="attachment_2625" align="alignleft" width="400"] Lung Cancer Breathalyser[/caption] Interesting piece in the news today and there's an amazing story behind it.  The "Lung Cancer Breathalyser" is not a new technology but following the death of his wife from advanced colon cancer, inventor Billy Boyle has produced something good enough to have been accepted on a trial basis by the NHS. If successful, it has the potential to save thousands of lives. Lung Cancer is a big killer and the survival rate at Stage 4 is around 5%. Let's hope this invention works. When I was reading the article, I immediately recognised his wife as a blogger I was following and who died on Christmas day after fighting advanced colon cancer for 2 years.  Her final and penultimate blogs are very inspiring and worth reading. Her…
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03Nov 2014 by Ronny Allan 32 Comments
The Human Anatomy of Neuroendocrine Cancer

The Human Anatomy of Neuroendocrine Cancer

Awareness
OPINION.  Sometimes when I'm searching for cancer information, I'm presented with a 'pick-list' of types which mostly tend to be anatomy based.  I do find it annoying when I cannot find my own cancer on the list .....some respectable organisations are just not as up to date as they should be!  Neuroendocrine Cancer patients and advocates then have to shout quite loud for recognition and understanding.One of the key facets of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) is that they are not tied to a particular part of the human anatomy. Unlike (say) lung cancer, where the primary is in the lung, or breast cancer where the primary can be found in the breast, NENs arise from a cell type which can be present more or less anywhere in the body.  Ignorance of this…
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