Treatment for neuroendocrine cancer
Your treatment options depend on what type of neuroendocrine cancer you have.
Read more about what neuroendocrine cancer is
On this page we provide a general overview of treatments for all types of neuroendocrine cancer.
For more detailed information about treatment for your neuroendocrine cancer, choose your type from the menu at the link below. Your type depends on several factors including where in your body the cancer starts growing.
Select your type of neuroendocrine cancer
A team of doctors and other professionals discuss the best treatment and care for you. They are called a multidisciplinary team (MDT). Your MDT usually includes:
a specialist nurse - also called a clinical nurse specialist (CNS)
a pathologist - a doctor who diagnoses diseases from examining
a clinical oncologist - a doctor specialising in radiotherapy treatment
a medical oncologist - a doctor specialising in drug treatment
a surgeon
a pharmacist
a radiologist - a doctor specialising in reading x-rays and scans
a
a hepatologist - a doctor who treats problems with the liver, pancreas, bile duct or or gallbladder
You might meet a social worker, psychologist or counsellor.
If you need treatment, your team plans it. Your treatment also depends on:
your type of neuroendocrine
how fast it is growing (the grade)
how far the cancer has spread (the stage)
your general health and fitness
Your doctor will talk to you about your treatment options. They will discuss the benefits and the possible side effects with you.
Read more about the grades and stages of neuroendocrine cancer
The main treatment for neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) is surgery. You might also have surgery for neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) if your cancer hasn't spread.
The type of operation you have will depend on where the neuroendocrine cancer is in your body.
Surgery might be the only treatment you need. Or you might have it combined with other types of treatment.
You might have an operation even if the surgeon can't completely remove the cancer. Removing part of the cancer can sometimes reduce your symptoms. They sometimes call this debulking surgery.
Your doctor might only suggest surgery if they think it’s possible to remove most of the cancer.
Read our general information about surgery for neuroendocrine cancer
Some people only have one type of treatment. Other people need a combination of treatments.
You might have one of the following treatments for a neuroendocrine tumour (NET). We have information about treating neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) further down this page.
You might have symptoms if you have a NET that is producing too many . Surgery to remove the cancer can help with symptoms. But you might need other treatment straight away to help you feel better. And to make sure you are well enough for surgery. This might include:
fluid through a drip if you have had a lot of diarrhoea
vitamin or mineral supplements
drip or tube feeding if you have lost lots of weight
pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT)
Read more about living with the symptoms of neuroendocrine cancer
You might have one of the following treatments for a neuroendocrine tumour (NET) if:
you can’t have surgery to remove the NET
the NET has spread to another part of the body
the NET comes back after initial treatment
These treatments can control your symptoms and help you feel better but won’t get rid of the NET. There are a number of different treatment options. The best treatment for you depends on your situation.
Somatostatin analogues are medicines that slow down the NET from making too many hormones.
The most common hormone NETS make is . This can cause diarrhoea and facial flushing. Somatostatin analogues can help to lower the serotonin levels. This can improve symptoms and also slow down the growth of the cancer.
The most common somatostatin analogues are:
You might have somatostatin analogues if your NET picks up . Doctors can check for this using special scans. Some NETs don't pick up somatostatin. So if the NET doesn’t pick it up it means this treatment won’t work.
Read about somatostatin analogues
Chemotherapy uses anti cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. You may have chemotherapy if cancer has spread to your liver or to other parts of your body.
You might take chemotherapy drugs by mouth as tablets or capsules. Chemotherapy drugs for NETs include:
temozolomide
capecitabine
Read more about chemotherapy for neuroendocrine cancer
You might have a type of radioisotope therapy. This is called peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). This is a way of using radioactive medicines to treat cancer.
PRRT uses a radioactive substance called lutetium-177 or yttrium-90. Neuroendocrine cells have proteins on the outside of them called somatostatin receptor proteins. The hormone somatostatin attaches itself to this receptor protein. This would normally slow down the production of hormones by the cell.
This treatment uses a man made form of the hormone somatostatin. This medicine is called a somatostatin analogue. The treatment attaches the radioactive substance to the somatostatin analogue drug. The drug can deliver the radiotherapy directly inside the neuroendocrine cell. This destroys it.
You have special scans such as or . These can check whether your NET has these somatostatin receptors. If it does, your doctors might offer you this treatment for a NET that:
started in your or
has spread or cannot be removed with surgery
is grade 1 or grade 2 - this means the NET is slow or moderately fast growing
Cancer cells have changes in their genes (DNA) that make them different from normal cells. These changes mean that they behave differently. Targeted drugs work by ‘targeting’ the differences that a cancer cell has and destroying them.
Common targeted cancer drugs for NETs include:
everolimus
sunitinib
Read more about targeted cancer drugs
Neuroendocrine cancer can spread to other parts of the body, including the liver. The following treatments might be options if your cancer has spread to your liver:
The surgeon might be able to remove cancer in your liver. But this isn’t always possible. The surgeon might remove the liver cancer at the same time you have the main surgery. Or you may have a second operation to remove it.
Your surgeon might remove just the cancer, or the part of the liver where the tumour is.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) uses heat made by radio waves to kill cancer cells. It is a treatment for cancer that has spread to the liver. You might have this if your cancer is in your liver and you can’t have surgery to remove it.
You might have RFA alone or together with other treatments.
Trans arterial embolisation aims to block the blood supply to cancer in the liver. The tumour can’t survive without a blood supply. Blocking the blood supply also stops the tumour releasing hormones into your blood. It’s also called hepatic artery embolisation.
Doctors might give a chemotherapy drug directly into the liver. You have this at the same time as blocking the blood vessel. This is called chemoembolisation or trans arterial chemoembolisation (TACE). This is a less common treatment for people with a neuroendocrine cancer.
Read about trans arterial embolisation
A liver transplant is an operation to remove your liver and replace it with a healthy one from a donor. It is a big operation and is only suitable for a very small number of people. You doctor will let you know if this kind of operation is possible for you.
Read about liver transplants in the liver cancer section
Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) is a way of giving radiotherapy treatment for cancer in the liver.
It's a type of . Your doctor puts tiny radioactive beads into a . This takes blood into your liver. The beads get stuck in the small blood vessels in and around the NET. Then the radiation destroys the cancer cells.
The aim of treatment is to slow the growth of your cancer. It might also help control hormone related symptoms, if you have them.
Neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) are different to neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). NEC cells look very abnormal and aren’t like normal neuroendocrine cells at all. Doctors call them poorly differentiated cancers.
NECs are all high grade. This means they grow rapidly and are likely to spread. Unfortunately this means NECs are more difficult to treat than NETs. The treatment you need is different.
Treatment depends on your individual situation. For example where in your body the NEC has started, and whether it has spread.
You might have surgery if your cancer hasn’t spread.
You usually also have chemotherapy treatment as well as surgery. You might have this:
before surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy)
after surgery (adjuvant chemotherapy)
You have chemotherapy on its own. For some NEC's, you might have it with radiotherapy. This is called chemoradiotherapy.
Chemotherapy drugs for NEC include:
carboplatin or cisplatin
etoposide
irinotecan
Read more about chemotherapy treatment for neuroendocrine cancers
Your doctor might ask if you’d like to take part in a clinical trial. Doctors and researchers do trials to make existing treatments better and develop new treatments.
Find out more about clinical trials and how to take part
Last reviewed: 06 Feb 2025
Next review due: 06 Feb 2028
Neuroendocrine cancers are also called neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). There are 2 key groups - neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs).
There are many different types of neuroendocrine cancer. They are usually named after the part of the body where they develop.
A pathologist reports how abnormal the cancer cells look (differentiation) and how quickly they are growing (grading). Your stage is the size of the cancer and whether it has spread.
Treatment depends on the type of neuroendocrine cancer you have, where it is, its size and whether it has spread (the stage).
Survival (prognosis) depends on several factors. This includes your type of neuroendocrine cancer, where it is in your body, and whether it has spread.
Neuroendocrine cancers develop in cells of the neuroendocrine system. They can develop in different parts of the body including the lungs, stomach, pancreas and bowel.
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