Being an extremely rare disease, Neuroendocrine tumour has attacked one of the most loved actors in the country, Irrfan Khan. When one knows about a disease as rare as this one, detection becomes easier.
What is Neuroendocrine tumour?
Neuro means nerve and endocrine means the cells of the endocrine system. The endocrine system is a network of glands and organs in the body that produce hormones. It’s also called the hormone system.
Hormones control how our bodies work. This includes our growth and development, how we respond to changes such as stress, and many other things.
There are neuroendocrine cells in most organs of the body.
Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are rare tumours that develop in cells of the neuroendocrine system. There are a number of different types of neuroendocrine tumour. The type you have depends on the particular cells that are affected.
Most neuroendocrine tumours usually develop slowly over a number of years. Many people don’t have symptoms at first. It’s not unusual for people to find that a neuroendocrine cancer has already spread to another part of the body when they are diagnosed.
They most commonly occur in the intestine, where they are often called carcinoid tumors, but they are also found in the pancreas, lung and the rest of the body.
A cancerous tumor is malignant, meaning it can grow and spread to other parts of the body if it is not found early and treated. A benign tumor means the tumor can grow but will not spread. A benign tumor usually can be removed without it causing much harm.
What are the symptoms for all neuroendocrine tumors?
These are the symptoms:
Stomach pain
Changes in bowel habits
Shortness of breath
Loss of appetite Weight loss
Unusual bleeding or discharge
Persistent fever or night sweats
Headaches Anxiety
Gastric ulcer disease
Painless, firm, shiny lumps on the skin that can be red, pink, or blue
Skin rash
Who does it commonly affect?
The tumor can affect people of any age but these tumours are most likely to affect people over the age of 60. People who have a rare condition called multiple endocrine neoplasia 1 have an increased risk of developing a NET.
What are the three specific types of neuroendocrine tumors?
Pheochromocytoma, it is a rare form of tumor that forms in the chromaffin cells of the adrenal gland, these cells are responsible for releasing adrenaline during stress. Pheochromocytoma increases the production of the hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which increase blood pressure and heart rate. Even though a pheochromocytoma is usually benign, it may still be fatal because the tumor may release large amounts of adrenaline into the bloodstream after an injury.
Merkel cell cancer, is an aggresive and rapidly growing tumor. It starts in hormone-producing cells just beneath the skin and in the hair follicles. It is usually found in the head and neck region.
Neuroendocrine carcinoma can start in a number of places in the body, including the lungs, brain, and gastrointestinal tract. Around 60 per cent of neuroendocrine tumors cannot be described as anything other than neuroendocrine carcinoma, as per www.cancer.net.
The neuroendocrine tumour is a rare occurrence, with incidence much lower than breast cancer. “Ordinarily it can be found in multiple location in abdomen, such as in pancreas or intestine, but rarely do we find the tumour in lung or brain,” he said. He added that the neuroendocrine tumour is of two grades even in abdomen. “A low grade cancer patient can live for several years. In high grade, it requires chemotherapy, and surgical procedures, but life expectancy is still less.”
Apple founder Steve Jobs suffered from neuroendocrine cancer in pancreas which spread to other organs in his body. It is estimated that more than 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor each year.