Tag: World Health Organisation (WHO)

A part of the United Nations that deals with major health issues around the world. The WHO sets standards for disease control, health care, and medicines; conducts education and research programs; and publishes scientific papers and reports. A major goal is to improve access to health care for people in developing countries and in groups who do not get good health care. The headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland. Also called World Health Organization.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is a part of WHO and responsible for the WHO Classification of Tumours, also known as the WHO Blue Books, since the 3rd edition (2000–2005), which covered all organ sites in 10 volumes. The characteristics of each cancer type, including diagnostic criteria, pathological features, and associated molecular alterations, are described and illustrated in a strictly disease-oriented manner to provide the international standards for diagnosis and cancer research.

17Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Don’t worry, it’s benign!

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

OPINIONOne of the most controversial aspects of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) is the ‘benign vs malignant’ question. It’s been widely debated, and it frequently patrols the various patient forums and other social media platforms. It raises emotions and it triggers many responses ….. at least from those willing to engage in the conversation. At best, this issue can cause confusion, at worst, it might contradict what new patients have been told by their physicians (….or not been told). This post will not cover Neuroendocrine Carcinoma which by standard cancer nomenclature definition is malignant.Any standard cancer nomenclature definition of the word 'tumour' will confirm the definition of the word tumour means it can either be benign or malignant. However, and while I'm sure there are benign NETs, the key statement to explain…

22Apr 2015 by Ronny Allan 41 Comments

Carcinoid vs Neuroendocrine

Awareness, Patient Advocacy

OPINION There's a constant debate regarding the validity of the term 'Carcinoid'. I've posted about this a few times and as far as I know, the debate has been raging for some years. EDIT MARCH 2022. The latest classification system for Lung Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NEN) confirms the word "carcinoid" is now a choice - the WHO Lung Committee bottled it. I made my choice some years ago, I hope others follow suit. Read more about changes to Lung NEN by clicking here. EDIT APRIL 2020. The latest classification system for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms confirms the word "carcinoid" no longer forms part of the terminology used in Digestive System tumours (effectively removing the term from GEP NETs) - read more - click here Edit May 2020. So, what about other areas not included in…

I don’t tend to share some very personal stuff, but this is on the boundary of that rule and there are some important messages to be teased out. For those who follow my blog in detail, you may remember the post entitled “Neuroendocrine Cancer – Signs, Suspicions, Symptoms, Syndromes, Side-Effects, Secondary Illnesses, Comorbidities, and Coincidences” […]

First and only FDA-cleared, fully automated chromogranin A assay

There has been controversy about the utility of Chromogranin A for many years now. Specialists have been critical about its use but to be fair even those less critical still confirm that alone it would not be trusted to formally diagnose Neuroendocrine Cancer. That said, it was still controversial when certain US guidelines were updated […]

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Question, Clarify, Confirm

One of the many observations I make in my private Neuroendocrine Cancer Facebook group is the misunderstandings caused by the use of non-standard terminology combined with a lack of understanding of what is up to date or not. And I don’t always mean a misunderstanding by patients. If I am to believe doctors uttered some […]

Clinical Trial – Lutathera NETTER-2 Important Update

UPDATE – Sep 25th, 2023 – Novartis radioligand therapy Lutathera® demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival in first line advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) Phase III NETTER-2 trial met primary endpoint of improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and key secondary endpoint of objective response rate (ORR) in patients with Grade 2 and 3 […]

Lanreotide: Ipsen injection devices vs generic injection devices

Whenever I get a chance to talk to a pharma involved in somatostatin analogue injection devices, I tell them one very important thing …… “To the patient, the injection delivery is almost as important as the drug”. I also add that my opinion is based on thousands of comments about the patient experience in my […]