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Neuroendocrine Cancer: Symptoms, Types, Diagnosis, and Treatment
By Raveena M Prakash
Hearing the word ‘cancer’ can often make people feel overwhelmed, and when it's something unfamiliar such as neuroendocrine cancer, it can often feel more confusing. Neuroendocrine cancer develops usually in the neuroendocrine cells, which play a vital role in regulating hormones and bodily functions such as digestion, metabolism, and heart function. These cells are found throughout the body; while these neuroendocrine tumors can develop in many different organs and behave in very different ways in patients.
In this article, we’ll discover more about how people can understand what endocrine cancer is and how it develops in people and what it means in patients.
What is neuroendocrine cancer?
Neuroendocrine cancer is often known as a neuroendocrine tumor (NET), develops when a neuroendocrine cell grows abnormally and develops a tumor.
While these tumors can be:
- Slow-growing tumors
- Fast-growing and aggressive tumors (high-grade)
Some neuroendocrine tumors usually produce excess hormones, which can cause noticeable symptoms. While most other cases won’t be detected in many cases until they reach the advanced stages.
Where does neuroendocrine cancer occur
Neuroendocrine tumors are a group of uncommon tumors that might develop in the neuroendocrine cells. These cells can have the traits of nerve cells and hormone-producing endocrine cells. In most cases, these tumors are malignant (cancerous) in nature.
Neuroendocrine tumors can develop almost anywhere, but they most commonly develop in:
- Gastrointestinal tract (stomach, intestines, appendix, rectum)
- Pancreas
- Lungs
- Adrenal glands
While less commonly, these can occur in the thyroid, skin, or other thyroid organs.
Types of Neuroendocrine cancer
An healthcare provider might categorise these cancers into two, these may include:
Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs)
These are usually slow-growing cancers and can often be well-differentiated cells. In simpler terms, these cells look similar to normal types of cells under a microscope. These cells often produce hormones such as serotonin, potentially leading to symptoms like diarrhea or flushing from carcinoid syndrome.
Neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs)
These are rare, highly aggressive, and poorly differentiated high-grade cancers arising from hormone neuroendocrine cells throughout the body. They are always considered to have a high-grade and fast-growing nature.
Symptoms of Neuroendocrine cancer
Neuroendocrine tumors don’t cause symptoms until a tumor impacts an organ. When this happens, symptoms vary based on the location.
Symptoms vary widely depending on:
- Tumor location
- Whether its produces hormones
- Tumors size and spread
Common symptoms
Here are some of the symptoms of neuroendocrine cancer, including:
- Abdominal pain or bloating
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Unexplained weight loss
- Fatigue
- Flushing of the skin
- Wheezing or shortness of breath
These symptoms are often ignored or overlooked because these signs are mostly considered less serious health concerns. Additionally, it’s important to have symptoms, which doesn’t always mean you have been diagnosed with this cancer.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of these cancers often involve several tests, such as:
- Blood and urine tests
- Imaging scans (CT, MRI, PET Scans)
- Endoscopy or biopsy
- Specialised nuclear medicine scans
- Biopsy: A biopsy usually performed to confirm the diagnosis and determine the tumor type and grade.
Treatment
There are treatments mainly depending on many factors, including tumor type, location and stage.
Here are some of the common options including:
- Surgery: These treatments are often used to remove the tumor in patients, if possible.
- Targeted therapy: These treatments are used to attack cancer cells more precisely in patients.
- Chemotherapy: These are effective treatments usually used to treat aggressive cancers
- Radiation therapy or radionuclide therapy: These are also used to treat these cancers in some patients.
- Medications: Some medications are used to control the hormone symptoms in patients.
In most cases, patients often require a multidisciplinary care team, including oncologists, endocrinologists, and surgeons.
Is neuroendocrine cancer curable
In many cases, these tumors are curable when your medical team removes all the signs of the tumor with a surgery. One of the major challenges with the diagnosis is that almost all of the NETs are slow-growing in nature. They have often been spread by the time they are diagnosed in these patients.
Some of these cancers, especially slow-growing ones, can be managed for many years, even if not completely cured. Early diagnosis improves the treatment outcomes, but even advanced cases may respond well to modern cancer treatments.
Living with Neuroendocrine cancer
Some neuroendocrine cancers are especially slow-growing in nature, and they can be managed by effective treatments, for many treatments, even if not completely cured. Early diagnosis and timely cancer treatments improve the treatment outcomes, but even advanced cancer cases might respond well to advanced cancer treatments.
If you or anyone you care about gets diagnosed with these cancers, learning more about these conditions is a powerful step to managing and improving the overall quality of patients' lives.
Consult Today
Neuroendocrine cancer is rare, complex, and often misunderstood by many, but it's not hopeless. With advances in diagnosis and effective and timely treatment, many people will live full and meaningful lives after diagnosis.
At Oncare, we offer premium-quality cancer treatments, including advanced cancer surgeries, at an affordable price range with an experienced cancer specialist consultation today!
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Hospital and book an appointment with our cancer specialist today. Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatment today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the symptoms of neuroendocrine cancer, including fatigue, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath and coughing.
Here are some of the risk factors associated with this cancer, including multiple endocrine neoplasia, von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1, tuberous sclerosis complex, and Cowden syndrome.
Surgery is the most common treatment for NET. in case, if your tumor is large then your healthcare providers might use these treatments, including:
- Somatostatin analogs
- Chemotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- Radiation therapy
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