How To Treat Neuroendocrine Tumors

Symptomatic Relief

Symptomatic relief is a critical factor of a patient's neuroendocrine tumor treatment. Neuroendocrine tumors have the tendency to produce a wider array of symptoms that occur on a more frequent basis than those of other types of malignant tumors. The mechanism that causes this involves the function of hormones in the body. Hormones are substances secreted by glands located throughout the body that tell all the organs what they need to do and when to do it. Neuroendocrine tumors not only produce the general symptoms of cancer itself, but also those that occur in conditions and illnesses that disrupt the normal processes of hormone production, secretion, and function. Therefore, symptomatic relief can present a challenge. Surgical procedures to reduce the size of the tumor can help manage numerous symptoms associated with excessive hormone production and release. Radiation therapy may be used to shrink the tumor to relieve symptoms caused by hormone abnormalities. Sometimes neuroendocrine tumors have to be treated through the complete removal of a hormone-producing gland such as the pancreas. The symptomatic consequences of such treatment also have to be managed since the gland is no longer present.

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Gene Therapy

Neuroendocrine tumors in some patients may be able to be treated with the use of gene therapy. Proteins in the body are specialized molecules that control the way cells work, and genes are the coded instructions that tell the cells how to produce proteins. Genes control cell division, growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Malignant cells in neuroendocrine tumors have alterations in their genes that cause them to behave the way they do. Gene therapy is the use of genes to boost a patient's immune response to malignant cells, make other cancer treatments more effective, provide the ability for cells to activate cancer-fighting drugs, help block mechanisms that protect cancerous cells, and alter viruses to infect and kill cancerous cells. In order for gene therapy to work, the genes have to be placed into the patient's neuroendocrine tumor cells or immune system cells. Gene therapy is helpful to treat neuroendocrine tumors that may not respond to other types of treatment because researchers are gaining a better understanding of how these malignant cells are different from healthy cells.