Spotlight on Neuroendocrine Cancer: Supporting Healthcare Professionals

May 9, 2023

Neuroendocrine cancers (NC) are England’s tenth most prevalent cancer. Yet awareness of these cancers is very low, even among healthcare professionals (HCPs).  People living with NC experience inequities in diagnosis, disease management and care due to a lack of understanding of the condition. On average, people in the UK must visit their GP 11 times before receiving a neuroendocrine cancer diagnosis. Diagnosis can be difficult and can take some time, especially when the symptoms mimic those of other more common health conditions, such as IBS, asthma and menopause.

To tackle this, NCUK have partnered with the UK & Ireland Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (UKINETS), made up of HCPs, to create the ‘Spotlight on Neuroendocrine Cancer’ campaign which aims to raise awareness and educate HCPs about this disease. The objective is to ensure that all neuroendocrine cancer patients have access to the same all-inclusive, joined-up care. This means that patients can see the right healthcare professional at the right time and in the right place. By providing relevant and easy-to-understand education about neuroendocrine cancer, healthcare professionals can improve patient outcomes and provide better support for those with this cancer.

One of the ways we are increasing awareness of the disease is by creating overviews of neuroendocrine cancer for different HCP specialities which include information about the disease and practical tips on how HCPs can recognise patients.  Thus far we have created a general overview for all HCPs and specific ones for GPs and gastroenterologists.  We continue to work to develop more overviews.

As part of this initiative, we are collaborating with other organisations to reach HCPs. To reach GPs we have worked with;
– Red Whale (medical education for GPs), who sent their database of 45,000 GPs an update on Neuroendocrine Cancers
-Primary Care Knowledge Boosts podcast, (a podcast by primary care, for primary care), who recorded an episode, ‘an approach to rare diseases in primary care’ which discussed neuroendocrine cancer and ways GPs could recognise it in their patients, this was downloaded 5,000 times in its first month
-The Primary Care Society of Gastroenterology (PCSG) where we delivered a presentation ‘What GPs need to know about NETs’ to an audience of 125 GPs.

To learn more about our “Spotlight on Neuroendocrine Cancer” campaign, visit our website: https://www.neuroendocrinecancer.org.uk/campaigns/spotlight-on-neuroendocrine-cancer/.