Pancreatic adenocarcinoma - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Tag: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma

The term “pancreatic cancer” is typically used to refer to pancreatic adenocarcinoma which is derived from the exocrine portions of the gland (ductal and acinar cells) and demonstrate features consistent with adenocarcinoma. Often used to distinguish from Neuroendocrine Neoplasms of pancreatic origin which are present in the endocrine portion of the gland.

18Jul 2019 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours – to cut or not to cut

Treatment

Background I've written before about pancreatic NETs (pNETs), much of which has been on the awareness side of my advocacy work, particularly emphasising the differences with core Pancreatic Cancer (adenocarcinoma).Pancreatic NETs are quite difficult to diagnose and treat, some of that difficulty is due to the location of the pancreas and accessibility for surgeons and radiographers. It's not helped by the fact that most pNETs are non-functional, making diagnosis more difficult as there is little clinical suspicion to scan, but also results in more late diagnoses.Although biopsies are possible, mainly via endoscopic ultrasound or laparoscopy, they can still be difficult to reach. In some cases, biopsies are not done until after the surgical removal of tumours. The latter scenario plus surgery after a positive biopsy result does present an increased risk…

28Feb 2019 by Ronny Allan 6 Comments

From dying to living, to hell and back

Awareness, Inspiration, Patient Advocacy

I once wrote a post about patient stories, in particular the ones I receive in my private messages. The headline was "The shock effect never wears off". But none have been more shocking than the one I received early in 2019. (edit: After posting this article, I heard of a few similar cases). This is a story about someone who is a private person but felt the need to reach out to me about their diagnostic experience. This person wanted to talk about it, but in private and I was happy to listen. I was so moved by this story, I persuaded this person to let me tell it here whilst retaining their anonymity. Hence referral going forward as 'Patient E'. I just felt that someone somewhere might learn something…

15Nov 2018 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Pancreatic Cancer vs Neuroendocrine Cancer of Pancreatic Origin

Awareness

Reviewed and updated 27th September 2021I campaign hard for Neuroendocrine Cancer awareness including continually pointing out that a Neuroendocrine Cancer with a pancreatic primary is NOT Pancreatic Cancer as is often quoted in the press. The two main reasons I take up these campaigns are as follows:1. They are totally different cancers despite an anatomical relationship. Although they can share a similar presentation, they can have different signs, different treatments, and vastly different prognostic outcomes. Anyone looking for useful information on either needs to be very careful on interpretation, they could end up with very bad advice and in some situations, become more concerned than they should be. (particularly with the prognostics). See more below. 2. These two different cancer types have different awareness organisations, patient support groups and patient…