Treatment for neuroendocrine cancer

There are things you can do to help you feel more in control of your health when preparing for treatment. This is called prehabilitation or prehab.

The most common treatment options for neuroendocrine cancer is surgery.  Other treatment options include somatostatin analogues, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Surgery is the main treatment for neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). You might also have surgery as part of your treatment for a neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC). 

Some NETs make large amounts of hormones and cause symptoms. Somatostatin analogues are a medicine that reduces and controls high hormone levels.

Chemotherapy is a common treatment for neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs). You might also have it for a neuroendocrine tumour (NET) that has spread.

Targeted cancer drugs can change the way cells work and help the body to control the growth of NETs.

PRRT is a type of radioisotope therapy for neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). It is also called radioligand therapy. It uses a radioactive substance. This is attached to a man made form of a hormone called somatostatin.

Radiotherapy means the use of radiation, usually x-rays, to treat cancer cells. External radiotherapy uses a machine from outside of the body.

131 I-MIBG is a type of radioisotope therapy. It uses radioactive iodine attached to a substance called MIBG to kill the neuroendocrine tumour (NET) cells.

Trans arterial embolisation (TAE) is a treatment to the liver. A specialist doctor injects a substance to block the blood supply to a NET in the liver.

Radiofrequency and microwave ablation are both treatments to the liver. They use heat made by radiowaves or microwaves to destroy NET cells in the liver.