Thyroid Cancer Archives - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

27Feb 2017 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

It’s been 5 years since I saw a scalpel (….but my surgeon is still on speed dial)

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment

5 years ago today, I had a bunch of lymph nodes removed. Two separate areas were resected, only one was showing growth but both were showing up as hotspots on an Octreoscan. I had known since shortly after diagnosis in 2010 that 'hotspots' were showing in my left 'axillary' lymph nodes (armpit) and my left 'supraclavicular fossa' (SCF) lymph nodes (clavicle area). Some 10 months previously, I had a major liver resection and 5 months prior to the liver resection, I had a small intestinal primary removed including work on some associated complications. There had always been a plan to optimise cytoreduction of my distant metastases, it was just a matter of timing. I still can't get my head round why metastases from a small intestinal NET managed to get to this area but not others! Distant nodal metastasis treatment…

17Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 16 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Nodes, Nodules, Lesions

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment

A fairly common disposition of metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) is a primary with associated local/regional secondary's (e.g. lymph nodes, mesentery and others) with liver metastases. Technically speaking, the liver is distant. However, many metastatic patients have additional and odd appearances in even more distant places, including (but not limited to) the extremities and the head & neck. In certain NETs, these might be an additional primary (e.g. in the case of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN); or they could even be a totally different cancer. The worry with NETs is that the 'little suckers' can sometimes make these surprise appearances given that neuroendocrine cells are everywhere. Cancer doesn't just spread through the blood steam, it can also spread through the lymphatic system. This is a system of thin tubes (vessels) and lymph nodes that run throughout the body in the…

14Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

Surgery for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms – to cut or not to cut?

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment

OPINION - nothing in here should be taken as advice from the author. On paper, surgery remains the only potentially 'curative' option for Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) but there are stage, grade and anatomical constraints to that opinion. Many people get 'twitchy' about any inference of the 'C word' (cure) but our most eminent NET specialists use the term frequently including in the major treatment guidelines. I use the word 'curative' with some reservations because for many who are diagnosed at an advanced stage, surgery will not cure but will debulk or cytoreduce as much tumour as possible in order to palliate symptoms and improve quality of life. This is a big deal because NETs is one of a small number of cancers where debulking surgery can often provide a survival…

23Jul 2016 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Troublesome Thyroids

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment

In 2013, just when I thought everything seemed to be under control, I was told I had a 'lesion' on the left upper lobe of my thyroid. At the time, it was a bit of a shock as I had already been subjected to some radical surgery and wondered if this was just part of the relentless march of metastatic NET disease. The thyroid gland does in fact get mentioned frequently in NET patient discussions but many of the conversations I monitored didn't seem to fit my scenario - cue relentless study! I've been meaning to write this blog for some time but here is a synopsis of my research translated into 'patient speak'. This is intentionally brief, it's a big subject. I'll finish off with an update on where I am with my thyroid issue. Where…

10Jan 2016 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Clinical Trial: Neuroendocrine Cancer drug in the pipeline – Fosbretabulin Tromethamine CA4P (incl combo with Everolimus)

Technical NETs, Treatment

[caption id="attachment_8939" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Click this picture to see how VDAs work[/caption] {NEW} added 4 June 2019 From ASCO 2019 conference extract: Of the 17 patients enrolled, 16 completed the 12-week trial. One patient was not evaluable due to noncompliance. No DLTs were observed at day 21. The highest dose of 10 mg daily oral everolimus in combination with weekly 60mg/m2 IV fosbretabulin is the RP2D. No grade 4 or 5 toxicities were noted. Grade 3 toxicities were seen in 5 patients; abdominal pain and hyperglycemia (not related to study drug), fatigue (possibly related), decreased lymphocyte count and anemia (related). Several patients had delay in treatment due to grade 2 AE’s (GI symptoms, rash, thrombocytopenia) and one patient was unable to complete treatment due to pneumonitis. All evaluable patients except…