Treatments for neuroendocrine cancer

Your healthcare team will create a treatment plan just for you. The plan is based on your health and specific information about the cancer. What you want is also important when planning treatment. When deciding which treatments to offer for neuroendocrine cancer, your healthcare team will consider:

• where the cancer started (primary site)
• whether the cancer is a neuroendocrine tumour (NET) or a neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC)
• if the cancer has spread and where it has spread
• the stage of the cancer
• the grade of the cancer
• whether the tumour makes too much of a certain hormone and causes symptoms (is functional) or makes normal amounts of hormone that usually don’t cause any symptoms (is non-functional)
• any medical problems you have
• your lifestyle and what you prefer or want

Treatments for neuroendocrine cancer include surgery, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy and liver-directed therapy. You may be offered one or more of these treatments.

Most neuroendocrine cancers are NETs. NETs and NECs have distinct characteristics and need different treatment plans. The main treatment for NETs is surgery. NECs are more often treated with chemotherapy.