15Dec 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments
Neuroendocrine Tumours – now you see them, now you don’t!

Neuroendocrine Tumours – now you see them, now you don’t!

Treatment
In my post entitled "If you can see it, you can detect it", I listed the different types of scanning techniques and technology to find evidence of disease in Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs).  Of course, while scans, blood and (current) marker tests can give some pretty big and important clues, "tissue is the issue" to determine type.Even after formal diagnosis, seeing all the tumours can be a challenge with NETs.  In the article I quoted above, I indicated that scans for NETs can be analogous to picking 'horses for courses'. For example, most NETs have somatostatin receptors and can often be seen better on functional scans e.g. somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) or somatostatin receptor PET (SSTR-PET), combined with the use of radionuclides designed specifically for this purpose e.g. In111, Tc99m, Ga68,…
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07Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Neuroendocrine Cancer: Diagnosing the Undiagnosed

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Diagnosing the Undiagnosed

Patient Advocacy
Neuroendocrine Cancer is one of a number of "difficult to diagnose" conditions. Many types of Neuroendocrine Cancer come with an associated syndrome and these syndromes can mimic everyday illnesses. In many cases, people don't even feel ill while the tumours grow. Most types of this cancer are slow-growing but there are also aggressive versions. Although things appear to be improving in diagnostic terms, it can sometimes take years for someone to be finally diagnosed correctly and get treatment, albeit in some cases, too late for any hope of a curative scenario. It's a very sneaky type of cancer and if left too long it can be life threatening - Click here to find out why. The road to a diagnosis of Neuroendocrine Cancer is often not straight or easy to navigate.…
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05Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments
Neuroendocrine Cancer – If you can see it, you can detect it!

Neuroendocrine Cancer – If you can see it, you can detect it!

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship
Content in my review queue (line). BackgroundScanning is a key diagnostic support and surveillance tool for any cancer.  Even though you have elevated bloods or urine (....or not), a picture of your insides is really like a thousand words.... and each picture has a story behind it.  Scanning can be a game changer in the hunt for tumours and although scans do not normally confirm the cancer type and grade, they certainly help with that piece of detective work and are key in the staging of the cancer.When I read stories of people in a difficult diagnosis, I always find myself saying 'a scan might resolve this' and I always suggest people should try to get one.  Even in the case of a story about late diagnosis or a misdiagnosis, I find myself thinking…
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21Mar 2016 by Ronny Allan 15 Comments
I’m only as good as my last scan

I’m only as good as my last scan

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship
[caption id="attachment_5240" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Scanning - a piece of cake![/caption] "I'm only as good as my last scan". I received this comment last week in response to one of my posts and I thought it was a very pragmatic thing for someone to say. A NET patient under surveillance has regular tests at determined intervals but the one that is most likely to spot disease progression, stability or regression is a scan. Markers such as (say) Chromogranin A (CgA) or 5HIAA are clearly useful but in an ongoing surveillance scenario, they alone would not be used as a firm declaration of progression, stability or regression. Every picture tells a story and a scan is normally the confirmation required whether it's a CT, MRI or PET (etc). IF YOU CAN SEE…
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