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What Is Neuroendocrine Cancer? A Complete Beginner’s Guide
By Raveena M Prakash
Being diagnosed with cancer or just commonly hearing the word ‘cancer’ can be devastating, especially cancers like neuroendocrine cancer. These new cancer diagnoses can feel even more confusing and scary when you don’t have any history of cancer in your family, so don’t panic, because we’ve got your back.
In this article, we’ll discover more about neuroendocrine cancer, how it starts, symptoms to watch for, its diagnosis, treatment options, and much more!
What are neuroendocrine cells?
Neuroendocrine cells are specialized cells, and they are found throughout the body, especially in the gut, lungs, and pancreas. These cells act as a functional bridge between the nervous and endocrine systems. These cells receive signals from nerves and respond by releasing hormones into the bloodstream. Most endocrine tumors are malignant (cancerous) in nature.
Understanding Neuroendocrine Cancer
Neuroendocrine cancers occur when these neuroendocrine cells start to grow uncontrollably and abnormally and start to form tumors. These tumors are called neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). These tumors can develop almost anywhere in the body, but are common in the GI tract, lungs and pancreas and it can range from slow growing to aggressive in nature.
While not all neuroendocrine tumors behave the same way, and some grow very slowly and may not cause symptoms for years. However, other types of tumors are aggressive and spread quickly. Because of all these reasons, neuroendocrine cancers are often known as rare, complex and highly variable types of cancer.
Signs and symptoms
The neuroendocrine tumors won’t cause symptoms until it impacts an organ. In most cases, the symptoms vary based on the location.
Here are some of the symptoms, including:
- Fatigue
- Stomach pain
- Diarrhea
- Nausea and vomiting
- Shortness of breath
- Coughing (with blood)
Hormonal related symptoms
- Flushing of the skin
- Diarrhea
- Wheezing or shortness of breath
- Rapid heart beat
- Low or high blood sugar
All of these symptoms can mimic common conditions such as IBS, asthma, or menopause; neuroendocrine cancer is sometimes diagnosed late in most cases.
How is Neuroendocrine cancer diagnosed?
The diagnosis of NETs involves following several steps, including:
- Imaging tests: A healthcare provider performs tests like CT scan, MRIs, and X-rays, that can show tumors inside the patient's body. A PET scan results can show the signs of cancer spread.
- Blood and Urine tests: These tests help to find out the measures of a specific enzyme or protein in your blood or urine.
- Biopsy: A small sample of the tumor is examined under the microscope to confirm the cancer in suspected patients. Performing these tests help to find out how aggressive the cancer growth is in patients.
Treatment options
The treatment of NETs mainly depends on the tumor type, location, grade, stage, and overall health conditions of a patient. The common treatment approach is surgery; this is often performed when the tumor is localized. Surgery might remove the tumor completely.
Surgery is the most common treatment option for a patient diagnosed with this condition. When the tumors are large enough to spread in the body, doctors might use some other treatments.
These may include:
- Somatostatin analogs: Somatostatin analogs are medicines that prevent the body from making excess hormones. These can reduce the symptoms of functional NETs and help to slow the tumor growth.
- Chemotherapy: These treatments are often used to destroy several types of cancer cells.
- Targeted therapy: These treatments use targeted drugs that might target certain genes or proteins on cancer cells to kill them.
- Radiation therapy: The specialized forms of internal radiation therapy that might be used to treat NETs. For example, peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) delivers small amounts of radioactive substances to hormone-secreting NETs.
Many patients with neuroendocrine cancer might live long, most importantly meaningful lives, with the help of effective cancer treatments.
Is Neuroendocrine cancer is rare
The neuroendocrine cancers are often considered as rare, but cancer awareness and early diagnosis are increased due to better imaging tests and medical awareness about these cancers. These cancers are considered complex and mostly uncommon and patients are often encouraged to get immediate care from a cancer specialist who treats NETs.
Living with Neuroendocrine cancer
For patients living with this condition, it often means managing a chronic health condition rather than treating a short-term illness. Patients need to continue the disease monitoring. While getting a regular follow-up with their medical team, they might adjust the treatments, and additionally, having strong emotional support is an important part of neuroendocrine cancer care.
Additionally, joining the cancer survivor groups and patient support groups along with medically specialized teams can make a significant difference.
Consult Today
A new diagnosis of neuroendocrine cancer might sound intimidating and emotionally triggering to handle. Understanding how this cancer spreads and its location, what the treatments are is the first step towards starting healing this condition. With a rapid growth in advances in diagnosis and treatment, many cancer patients manage this disease successfully for years.
At Oncare, we offer premium-quality cancer treatments, including advanced cancer surgeries, at an affordable price range with an experienced cancer specialist consultation.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with an experienced cancer specialist today. Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Neuroendocrine cancers often start in neuroendocrine cells, which have features of both hormone-producing cells, and can develop anywhere in the body, most commonly the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and pancreas.
According to recent cancer research, experts classify Neuroendocrine tumors based on where they release hormones.
The most common types include:
- Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumor (GI-NETs)
- Lung endocrine tumors
- Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (P-NETs)
The neuroendocrine tumors don’t cause any major symptoms until a tumor impacts on the tumor. The symptoms of these conditions may include fatigue, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, and coughing (with blood).
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