![Clinical Trial: [177Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE in Patients With Grade 1 and Grade 2 Advanced GEP-NET (NETTER-3)](https://i0.wp.com/ronnyallan.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/netter-3-1.jpg?resize=840%2C420&ssl=1)
In the war on Neuroendocrine Cancer, let’s not forget to win the battle for better quality of life
Originally published March 2017 OPINION. Date of Article March 2017. In the last 24 months, there seems to have been announcement after announcement of new and/or upgraded/enhanced diagnostics and treatment types for Neuroendocrine Cancer. Increased availability of radionuclide scans, increased availability of radionuclide therapies, combination therapies, increased availability of somatostatin analogues, biological therapies, enhanced surgical and minimally invasive techniques, new oral drugs for carcinoid syndrome, more trials including immunotherapy. Admittedly, some of the announcements are just expansions of existing therapies having been approved in new regions. Compared to some other cancers, even those which hit the headlines often, we appear…
Targeted Alpha-emitter Therapy (TAT) – the wave of the future in nuclear oncology/PRRT?
What is Targeted Alpha-emitter Therapy? Regular PRRT which is authorised for use now, i.e. Lutathera/Lu177 is a beta therapy. Targeted Alpha Therapy is based on the coupling of alpha particle emitting radioisotopes to tumour selective carrier molecules, such as monoclonal antibodies or peptides. These molecules have the ability to selectively target tumour cells even if they are spread throughout the body. They recognize the targeted cancer cells through antigens that are expressed on the cell surface and can bind selectively to these cells, similar a key fitting into a lock. In targeted alpha therapy these carrier molecules serve as vehicles…
Neuroendocrine Cancer – it takes guts
The majority of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) are slow growing (well differentiated). However, many tumours can be silent (non-functioning) for some years before they start to 'function' and inform you of their presence. Even then, it may take some time to work out the real cause as the symptoms can mimic regular ailments. Moreover, in most cases, the appearance of a functional tumour often indicates the disease has metastasised and could now be incurable. Some tumours will grow and metastasise without syndromes, i.e. they are non-functional. These may become functional at some point in the future. However, with most slow-growing NETs, this…
Clinical Trial: Triapine and Lutetium Lu 177 Dotatate for Neuroendocrine Tumors
Clinical Trial: Triapine and Lutetium Lu 177 Dotatate for Neuroendocrine TumorsUpdated 31st July 2024 to add Phase 1 results and info regarding Phase 2. Clinical Trial: Triapine and Lutetium Lu 177 Dotatate for Neuroendocrine Tumors - What is PRRT?I'm guessing most of my readers know what Peptide Receptor Radiotherapy (PRRT) is. But for those new to this field, read more hereWhat is Triapine?Triapine is a ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) inhibitor, I.e. it helps repair DNA. When I research this drug, I can see it is used in numerous examples of clinical trials in an anti-cancer setting alongside radiotherapy and chemotherapy, in many cancers.Triapine in…
Somatostatin Receptors
Don't understand Somatostatin Receptors? Join the club! I got my head around the term 'Somatostatin' and 'Somatostatin Analogues' some time ago but the term 'Somatostatin Receptor' (SSTR) is still a bit of a mystery. SSTRs do come up in conversation quite often and I'm fed up of nodding sagely hoping it will eventually become clear! On analysis it looks like a technical subject - and therefore a challenge. I've taken a logical approach working from 'Somatostatin' to 'Somatostatin Analogue' before commencing on the 'receptor' bit. It is intentionally brief and (hopefully) simplistic! Somatostatin It's important to understand this hormone and…
“You must be doing OK, you’ve not had chemotherapy”
If there's a word which is synonymous with cancer, it's chemotherapy. It's what most people have in their mind when they are talking to a cancer patient...... 'have you had chemotherapy' or 'when do you start chemotherapy'. I was nonchalantly asked by a friend some time ago 'how did you get on with chemotherapy' - he was surprised to hear I hadn't had it despite my widespread disease. Cue - lengthy explanation! I wasn't annoyed by the question; I just think people automatically assume every cancer patient must undergo some form of cytotoxic chemotherapy. If you read any newspaper article about…
Chemotherapy for Neuroendocrine Cancer
Edited and checked April 2024 One of the unusual aspects of Neuroendocrine Cancer is that chemotherapy is not normally considered as a 'standard of care' or first-line treatment, unlike many other cancers. One exception is high grade (Grade 3) where it is very often a first and/or second-line therapy. This is particularly the case with poorly differentiated Neuroendocrine disease, by default labelled as Neuroendocrine Carcinoma (NEC). Many people think Chemotherapy has a short life span due to recent advances in medical science, some citing Immunotherapy as its replacement. However, it's far too early to write off chemotherapy which is still…
A Phase 2 Open Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of 212Pb-DOTAMTATE (alpha-emitter) in Subjects With Somatostatin Receptor Positive Neuroendocrine Tumours
A Phase 2 Open Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of 212Pb-DOTAMTATE (alpha-emitter) in Subjects With Somatostatin Receptor Positive Neuroendocrine Tumours Update 2nd November 2025 - NANETS output. Efficacy, Safety of 212Pb-DOTAMTATE in PRRT-Naive Patients With GEP-NETsThis is a follow on from the 8th October 2025 update below. Commentary by Dr Mary Maluccio from NOLA NETs. The figures looks great and you can read it or listen to her talking. Click here for that. The phase 3 trials will be PRRT niave patients ony (i.e. those who have had no previous PRRT (beta or alpha)). Update 8th October 2025Press Release: AlphaMedixTM…
Somatostatin Receptor Positive Advanced Bronchial Neuroendocrine Tumors – PRRT vs Everolimus
US Trial I was delighted to see this clinical trial which looks at the efficacy of PRRT (Lu177 dotatate) vs the efficacy of Everolimus (Afinitor). The latter is approved for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, well-differentiated non-functional, neuroendocrine tumors (NET) of gastrointestinal (GI) or lung origin with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic disease (US FDA wording, Europe is similar). What is this trial? This phase II trial studies the effect of lutetium Lu 177 dotatate compared to the usual treatment (everolimus) in treating patients with somatostatin receptor positive bronchial neuroendocrine tumors that have spread to other places in…
Neuroendocrine Cancer Clinical Trial – Lutetium-177Lu (Satoreotide)
What is Satoreotide?It's an agonist treatment. i.e. a 'next generation' radiologand for Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) or more specifically the radiopharmaceutical that binds to both activated and unactivated somatostatin receptors which are upregulated on these tumours. There is far higher binding via this mechanism than standard octreotate. The technical name of the radiopharmaceutical is Satoreotide tetraxetan lutetium-177 (author's note, I'm guessing but it could be a variant of Lanreotide).Somatostatin type 2 (SST2) receptor is overexpressed in many around 80% of NETs, some NEC and in certain hard-to-treat cancers such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and neuroblastoma, an aggressive,…
Clinical Trial: Novel Somatostatin Receptor Subtype 2 Antagonist Labelled With Terbium-161 (161Tb-DOTA-LM3)
Update 14th December 2025 - Results from the Phase 0 proof of concept trial. Conclusion [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-LM3 shows a 7.6-fold-higher tumor absorbed dose than that found when using [177Lu]Lu-DOTATOC. The tumor–to–bone marrow absorbed dose ratio was in the same range for both radiopharmaceuticals. The promising dosimetry and safety results from this phase 0 study will lay the foundation for further clinical development of [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-LM3. Dose-escalation trials and peptide dose optimizing studies are warranted to establish the maximum tolerated activity per cycle and assess long-term efficacy. The integration of 161Tb into PRRT regimens has the potential to redefine the therapeutic landscape for NETs,…
Study of Lu-177-DOTATATE (Lutathera) in Combination With PARP Inhibitors in Inoperable/Metastatic Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (GEP-NET)
PARP inhibitor with PRRT clinical trials update. 1. NIH Trial SummaryA phase I/II clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center evaluates the effectiveness of a combination of two agents that may work in complementary ways to target inoperable or metastatic neuroendocrine tumoors. One agent, lutathera, emits radiation inside the body, causing DNA damage, and the second agent, olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, blocks the repair of DNA breaks. The trial commences in Oct 2022 running for approximately 2 years 9 months. What is Lutathera?It's a type of Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) and has been in use for some years as a standard of care…
Clinical Trials – Targeted Alpha-Emitter PRRT RYZ101 (Ac225)
Update 11th January 2026 RayzeBio has a new trial with the product RYZ401 entitled Study of RYZ401 in Subjects With Solid Tumors Expressing SSTRs. Click here NCT07165132. The primary objectives are to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) and optimal treatment regimen, characterize safety and tolerability, and evaluate preliminary efficacy of RYZ401 in subjects with NETs and other selected solid tumors expressing SSTRs (meningiomas get a mention in the clinical trial document). This is different to the original product below when this blog was created (now Phase 3 RYZ101) but it also for well differentiated NETs as per clinical trials…
Survival Outcomes in Metastatic Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Patients receiving Concomitant 225Ac-DOTATATE Targeted Alpha Therapy and Capecitabine: A Real-world Scenario Management Based Long-term Outcome Study
Introduction I've written about both 225Ac-DOTATATE targeted alpha therapy (TAT) and Capecitabine before but never as a concomitant pair (combo). So, when this Indian study came up on my radar, I felt it was a useful addition to my website adding to my existing targeted alpha therapy portfolio of information. India appears to be using more of this type of PRRT than any other country. Read more about targeted alpha therapy by clicking here or on the photo below. Read more about Capecitabine (combo with Temozolomide) by clicking here or on the photo below. The abstract from the Indian study…
External Validation of a Clinical Score for Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors Under Consideration for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy
Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) has been around for a while and doctors are learning all the time about the most likely candidates. Selection of candidates and predictions on who will benefit most are still not an exact science (....and possibly never will be). Neuroendocrine Neoplasms are a heterogenous grouping of cancers, and heterogeneity also includes (but is not limited to) age, stage, gender, functional/non-functional, and pre-existing condition constraints. All of this complicates the task of therapeutic decision-making and sequencing. The attached cohort study aims to bound the issue and describe a method of allocating a Clinical Score (CS) to…
Lutetium 177Lu-Edotreotide Versus Best Standard of Care in Well-differentiated Aggressive Grade-2 and Grade-3 GastroEnteroPancreatic NeuroEndocrine Tumors (GEP-NETs) – (COMPOSE)
Garching / Munich, October 27, 2022 ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company Fast Track designation for ITM-11 (n.c.a. 177Lu-edotreotide), an investigational radiopharmaceutical for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). ITM-11 is being evaluated as a Targeted Radionuclide Therapy in two phase III clinical trials, COMPETE and COMPOSE. The FDA Fast Track is a process designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and address an unmet medical need. The purpose is to bring new and promising medicines to patients sooner. The…
![Clinical Trial: [212Pb]VMT-α-NET Alpha-emitter – Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial](https://i0.wp.com/ronnyallan.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/VMT-alpha-theranostics-1.jpg?resize=400%2C280&ssl=1)
Clinical Trial: [212Pb]VMT-α-NET Alpha-emitter – Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial
[212Pb]VMT-α-NET Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial Uupdate 21 June 2025. Perspective Therapeutics Commences Recruitment for [212Pb]VMT-α-NET in the Third Dose Escalation Cohort of its Ongoing Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial June 21, 2025 [212Pb]VMT-α-NET Phase 1/2a study is advancing into Cohort 3 with a fixed administered dose that is up to 20% higher (6 mCi) than the dose administered to patients in Cohort 2 Dosimetry sub-study analysis presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2025 Annual Meeting to advance utility of dosimetry in clinical development when considered with clinical data On track to submit further clinical updates to…
Selecting patients and the Challenges of Evaluating Response to PRRT in GEPNETs: The Present and the Future
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Fascinating article from the Italian NET scientific community. This article is more than just what the title says, it provides overviews on many facets of NETs including markers, scans and PRRT itself. It covers how to select patients for PRRT in the first place, i.e. who is most likely to get a good response to this treatment and then look at how to track and assess that response. The important thing I gathered from reading is that none of this…
SSTR PET – Ga68-DOTA-JR11 vs Ga68-DOTATATE
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Headline - 68Ga-DOTA-JR11 was found to detect significantly more liver lesions than 68Ga-DOTATATE; however, 68Ga-DOTATATE detected more bone lesions than 68Ga-DOTA-JR11.Although it had been in trial use for some years in Europe and elsewhere, the formal approval of 68Ga-DOTATATE has led to an increase in the development of other radionuclides, some in conjunction with therapeutic options (i.e. PRRT) making a 'theranostic' approach to diagnosing, treating and surveillance Neuroendocrine Cancer patients with somatostatin receptor positive tumours. I also wrote last year about…
Clinical Trial: Lu-177 DOTATOC (PRRT) in adult subjects with Somatostatin receptor (SSTR) positive Pulmonary, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, Unknown primary, and Thymic Neuroendocrine Tumors
Excellent news for those who don't have Gastroenteropancreatic NETs (GEP-NETs). A trial of PRRT is being set-up for the less common types of NET including those with an unknown primary. Using the DOTATOC radionuclide rather than the Lutathera model of using DOTATATE, this trial will cater for Pulmonary, Pheochromoctyoma, Paraganlioma, Unknown Primary and Thymic Neuroendocrine Tumours.Excel Diagnostics and Nuclear Oncology Center (EDNOC) announced today that its physician sponsored Investigational New Drug (IND) application to evaluate safety and efficacy of Lu-177 DOTATOC in adult subjects with Somatostatin receptor (SSTR) expressing Pulmonary, Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, Unknown primary, and Thymic Neuroendocrine Tumors (PUT-NET), has…
LUTATHERA (PRRT) – Clinical Trial for Grade 2/Grade 3 Patients Advanced GEP-NET (NETTER-2)
FINAL TRIAL RESULTS PUBLISHED 19TH JAN 2024Read more by clicking here.Original blog below. Brief Summary- The NETTER-1 trials led to the approval of Lu177 (or Lutathera), more commonly known in the community as Peptide Receptor Radio Therapy (PRRT). This led to an explosion of availability across the world but many gaps in service remain.Many PRRT spin off trials are in the pipeline looking at different types of PRRT, mainly using slightly different radionuclides and techniques. However, NETTER-2 builds on the success of the approved version formally known as Lutathera.The aim of NETTER-2 is to determine if Lutathera in combination with long-acting…
Clinical Trial: Intra-arterial Lu177 (PRRT) for Neuroendocrine Cancer liver metastases (LUTIA)
Neuroendocrine Cancer - Intra Arterial - situated or occurring within, administered into, or involving entry by way of an artery.The treatment of liver metastasis is a common approach following a metastatic diagnosis or discovery of liver metastasis downstream via re-staging. In addition to surgery, there are several liver directed therapies available via embolization techniques. This comes in several flavours:1. Bland liver embolization - a minimally invasive technique which simply blocks the blood supply to the liver tumours in an attempt to reduce or kill those tumours. Sometimes called Hepatic Arterial Embolization or HAE.2. Chemotherapy liver embolization - as above but…
Detectnet™ (64Cu-DOTATATE) – an expansion of the Somatostatin Receptor PET Imaging for Neuroendocrine Cancer
Edit 21st January 2021. The imaging time window of 64Cu-DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms can be expanded from one hour to three hours post-injection, according to new research published in the January 2021 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Read more here Edit 4th September 2020. 64Cu-dotatate now named Detectnet™ is approved for use by US FDA. Majority read revealed Detectnet had over 98% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and over 96% specificity to confirm or exclude presence of disease. Read more here. Edit 14th July 2020. Expanded Access Program via clinical trial now recruiting -…
Clinical trial of 177Lu-DOTA-EB-TATE – Long-lasting radionuclide therapy for advanced neuroendocrine tumors
Update April 2023There is now an interventional Phase 1 clinical trial of this PRRT variant happening in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, United States, 10065, contact Contact: Lisa Bodei, MD, PhDThe clinical trial document is here NCT05475210 - this is a small trial (9 participants) and make sure you check the exclusion and inclusion criteria. Click here:177Lu-DOTA-EB-TATE in Untreated (Naïve) Adult Patients With Advanced, Well- Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.govIn the NewsUpdate in March 2021. Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc. (MTTI), a clinical stage radiopharmaceutical therapy company, announced the approval of an Investigational…
RonnyAllan.NET – Community Newsletter January 2018
A great start to the year in both NETs in the news and my social media activity. Of course the headline is the US FDA approval of Lutathera (Lu-177) - i.e. PRRT I caught this news in my social media NET FDA finally approves PRRT in USA. Long awaited and has caused much excitement on all forms of social media. I'm very pleased for my USA friends but we mustn't forget it's also required in so many other places. Help me populate locations in my live article on PRRT click here. NET Epidemiology continues to be discussed and (yet) another well known…
Update: Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors
This is an excellent and positive video based overview of where we are with the Management of NETs. This is a presentation from a NET Specialist (who some of you may know) presenting to a "GI Malignancies" conference. This is therefore not only awareness of NETs, it's also some good education for non NET GI experts who may only know the very basics. Useful for patients too! I met Dr Strosberg in Barcelona (ENETS 2017) and thanked him for his presentational and scientific paper output which I often use in my articles. The classification picture is good as it explains…
NETwork with Ronny © – Community Newsletter OCTOBER 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to Ronny Allan's Community newsletter for October 2017. A very strong end of the month due to massive support for my Halloween themed but very serious and hard-hitting post "Neuroendocrine Tumors - no treats, just tricks". If you've not seen it or commented on it, check it out here on the Facebook site. I suspect the number of shares will never be beaten (652 in 36 hours). 31 Oct 2017 is now the biggest number of views on any one day, breaking the previous record set in Jan 2017. It also made October 2017 the highest monthly views…
Round up of NANETS 2017 – Let’s talk about NETs #NANETS2017
NANETS (North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society) is one of the biggest NET conferences, bringing together NET Specialists from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (Tumors and Carcinomas). This is fairly complex stuff but much of it will be familiar to many. I’ve filtered out several outputs from the conference which I think are both relevant and topical to patients. The list is below allowing you to easily peruse and read further via linkages if you need to read more. Remember, some of these are extracts so do not…
NETwork with Ronny © – Community Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my monthly 'Community' newsletter. This is September 2017's monthly summary of Ronny Allan's Community news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). NET News The following news items may be of interest: The European Commission (EC) approved Lu-177 Lutathera (PRRT) on 28 Sep. This is the first time the drug has ever been approved, despite being in use for over 10 years. In USA, the FDA gave a date of 28 Jan 2018 for its decision to approve or not. Read more here. The European Commission approved the use of XERMELO (telotristat ethyl) for use…
NETwork with Ronny © – Community Newsletter AUGUST 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my monthly 'Community' newsletter. This is August 2017's monthly summary of Ronny Allan's Community news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). NET News The following news items may be of interest: PRRT takes a step forward to being formally approved in USA. FDA acknowledges receipt of revised application for approval. Click here. However, in UK, there is a threat that PRRT won't be approved despite a positive recommendation by the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), the manufacturers of Lu-177 Lutathera for use on PRRT, has had to respond…
NETwork with Ronny © – Community Newsletter JULY 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my monthly 'Community' newsletter. This is July 2017's monthly summary of Ronny Allan's Community news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). July 26th was the 'Cancerversary' of my diagnosis - I'm still here after 7 years and I'm apparently a veritable newbie! There's some great comments on my 'I'm Still Here' post - check them out ... 'click here' NET News The following news items may be of interest: Telotristat Ethyl (Xermelo) takes a step forward to being approved in Europe. Click here. PRRT takes a step forward to being approved in USA. Click…
NETwork with Ronny © – Community Newsletter JUNE 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my monthly 'Community' newsletter. This is June 2017's monthly summary of Ronny Allan's Community news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). NET News The following news items may be of interest: NETs in the UK National News. Great publicity. Featuring NET Patient Foundation. Click here. Personalised PRRT is highlighted. Click here. Everolimus and Sunitinib. In England, NICE approves Everolimus (Afinitor) and Sunitinib (Sutent). Read more by clicking here. Videos from LACNETS. I've not watched them all yet due to holiday but they are always great! Click here. PRRT. News of a PRRT trial being…
NETwork with Ronny © – Community Newsletter MAY 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my monthly 'Community' newsletter. This is April 2017's monthly summary of Ronny Allan's Community news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). This year, it's occurred to me that I've gone beyond just being known as a 'blog' and have transformed into something with a much wider focus within the NET Community and beyond. I've added a new section called NET News. This is a catch up of stuff I've accumulated over the past month but perhaps not yet posted or simply want to emphasise what I think is significant news about NETs or might impact…
ASCO 2017 – Let’s talk about NETs #ASCO17
ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) is one of the biggest cancer conferences in the world normally bringing together more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field. As Neuroendorine Tumors is on a roll in terms of new treatments and continued research, we appear to be well represented with over 20 'extracts' submitted for review and display. This is fairly complex stuff but much of it will be familiar to many. I've filtered and extracted all the Neuroendocrine stuff into one list providing you with an…
All you need to know about Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)
Updated 11th January 2026 Short PRRT Primer What is Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)? What is PRRT? PRRT stands for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy, an FDA-approved therapy used for systemic treatment of neuroendocrine tumours. Peptide refers to the small molecule for this therapy. The Peptide used (e.g. DOTATATE or DOTATOC or DOTANOC) is very similar to Somatostatin, a hormone which binds to receptors found on neuroendocrine tumours.Receptor refers to a specific target on neuroendocrine tumour cells that the peptide attaches to. After the peptide joins with a Receptor, it becomes attached and enters the targeted tumour cell.Radionuclide refers to radioactive atom that is…
NETwork with Ronny © – Newsletter March 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my fifth 'community' newsletter, the monthly summary of NET news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). The highlight of the month was my attendance at the first ever Joint Patient-Physician symposium at ENETS Barcelona. I remain thankful to INCA for the honour of attending and for the experience that came with it. It was also great to finally meet other NET advocates face to face for the first time. Some of them have been great supporters since the inception of my blog and community. March was a slower month in blogging terms due to…
NETwork with Ronny © – Newsletter February 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my fourth 'community' newsletter, the monthly summary of NET news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). February was a slower month in blogging terms due to a major increase in contact from people privately asking for advice and others asking me to support external projects. I don't have an issue with private contact but please note my disclaimer. I also had a winter cold for a few days, so I relaxed a bit. Only a short month but I managed to accumulate the second biggest monthly blog views ever (January 2017 will be difficult to beat). Thank you all so much ♥ January's success…
Recent Progress in NET Management – Positive presentation from Jonathan R Strosberg MD
I recently wrote a blog called Neuroendocrine Cancer – Exciting Times Ahead! I wrote that on a day I was feeling particularly positive and at the time, I wanted to share that positivity with you. I genuinely believe there's a lot of great things happening. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot still to be done, particularly in the area of diagnosis and quality of life after being diagnosed. However, this is a really great message from a well-known NET expert. In an interview with OncLive, Jonathan R. Strosberg, MD, associate professor at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida, discussed…
NETwork with Ronny © – Newsletter January 2017
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my third 'community' newsletter, the monthly summary of NET news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). January was a month for breaking records. I recorded the biggest ever amount of views in any one day, any one week and now any one month and it will probably be a long time before they're broken again! This was mainly due to the fantastic support you showed for one particular blog post The Anatomy Of Neuroendocrine Cancer. Thank you all so much ♥ January was also a month for making new friends after being invited to speak to an…
Theranostics for Neuroendocrine Cancer – A Find and Destroy Mission
Theranostics is a joining of the words therapeutics and diagnostics. You may also see it conveyed as 'Theragnostics' and these terms are interchangeable. The basic aim of theranotistics is to find and then destroy the 'bad guys'. With Neuroendocrine Cancer, finding the tumours (the bad guys) can often be a challenge - they can be small and/or difficult to find - they are sometimes expert at camouflage. Moreover, once found, they can then be difficult to treat (destroy), as they can often prove resistant to conventional cancer drugs and many are inoperable due to sheer quantity, spread and positioning. When…
NETwork with Ronny © – Newsletter December 2016
Hi NETworkers! Welcome to my second 'community' newsletter, the monthly summary of NET news in Dec 2016, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). December was a particularly special month. For the previous 3 months, I had been busily working behind the scenes and on my various social media presences to put on a good show for the 2016 WEGO Health Activist Awards. This paid off and I won the Best in Show 'Community' category in addition to being shortlisted as one of 5 finalists in the blog category. The community award was special because it means we all won the award as…
NETwork with Ronny © – Newsletter November 2016
Hi, welcome to my first newsletter, a pilot for a monthly summary of NET news, views and ICYMI (in case you missed it!). What a month November has been - we had NET Cancer Day build up and I've been working hard to put on a good show for the 2016 WEGO Health Activist Awards (results expected around 6/7 Dec) whilst at the same time maintain my other campaigning activity across a wide range of social media platforms. Due to increased activity, I recorded the second highest monthly viewing figures ever - over 13,000 hits on my blog site in…
Neuroendocrine Cancer – Exciting Times Ahead!
In the last 12-24 months, there seems to have been announcement after announcement of new and/or upgraded/enhanced diagnostics and treatment types for Neuroendocrine Cancer. Scans, radionuclide therapies, combination therapies, somatostatin analogues, biological therapies, etc. Some of the announcements are just expansions of existing therapies having been approved in new (but significant) regions. Compared to some other cancers, even those which hit the headlines often, we appear to be doing not too badly. However, the pressure needs to stay on, all patients need access to the best diagnostics and treatments for them; and at the requisite time. There's even more in the pipeline and I'm hoping…
Intra-Operative RadioTheraphy (IORT) for Neuroendocrine Cancer – new landmark treatment launch
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…
Clinical Trial: PRRT and Chemo combination therapy
Update 2022: Trial complete. Results:The final results of this trial were presented at ASCO 2022 where it was concluded as follows:"CONTROL NETs is the first randomized trial to demonstrate efficacy for PRRT in pNETs, in addition to a standard of care. Extended follow up confirms durable CAPTEM/PRRT activity, with superior PFS in pNETs. Late haematologic toxicity was seen in both mNET PRRT arms but was not higher with additional CAPTEM. The activity of CAPTEM/PRRT in pNETs should be tested in the phase III setting" - click here to read the abstract. Combination treatments are common in chemotherapy, but this trial was…
PRRT and the NHS England Cancer Drugs Fund (now archived information)
Please note this post is now historic information - PRRT (Lutathera) was eventually approved for use in UK. See the following post for the very latest on PRRT worldwide - CLICK HERE I was extremely disappointed to learn of the decision to remove PRRT (Lutetium or Yttrium) from the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). You can read the detail of the decision here: CDF Statement. PRRT has regularly been described by NET specialists and patients as the "magic bullet" due to its potential to shrink or kill tumours. This is the second Neuroendocrine Cancer treatment to be withdrawn this year, after…