While there is no cure for NET after its early stages, there are a number of treatments available to slow the disease down and help patients deal with the symptoms. And the longer we can delay the advance of the disease, the greater the hope that a patient will be here when we find a cure.

Before I begin, though, I have to warn you I am not a doctor. This information needs to lead to a discussion with your primary care doctor and/or your oncologist about what your particular treatment options are. I provide this information purely to point out that an initial diagnosis of NET is not the end of the world–or even your life in it.

The single most effective treatment relies on early diagnosis. But, as I have said many times, early diagnosis is currently the exception. Most tumors that are discovered early are discovered by accident. But if you should be fortunate enough to get a diagnosis before the tumor has moved out of its initial site, surgery can cure the disease. The surgery is not minor, but it is not open-heart surgery, either.

But even at later stages, surgery can slow the progression of the disease significantly. Those surgeries can either take out the primary tumor or, if the disease has progressed to the liver, the tumors can be de-bulked using liver surgery. If the tumors are limited to a single lobe of the liver, this can be a particularly effective technique. That lobe of the liver is removed and, because of the peculiar property of the liver, the liver section removed will regrow. Liver surgery, however, is a much more complicated operation than a relatively simple appendectomy, for example.

Either of these surgical approaches can buy you significant symptom-free time and will likely improve both the length and the quality of your life.

There are a number of drugs that have also been shown to alleviate symptoms and slow the course of the disease. Octreotide, which blocks receptors in the tumors, and its long-acting brother, Somastatin, are the old standbys for this. Somastatin is a monthly injection generally given on an out-patient basis. I recently met a woman who did not tolerate it well but was using it through a pump like that used to deliver insulin to diabetics. She swore by the concept and said she had been using it for years. A number of other drugs have been shown to be safe and effective for pancreatic forms of NET and are currently in trials for other forms of the disease.

Another technique that has shown great results with liver metastases is liver embolization. There are three different methods of this, but basically all block the flow of blood to the tumors and/or deliver doses of drugs or radiation to the site of the tumors. This technique can lead to 2-3 years of relief from the symptoms of the disease–and can be repeated when and if symptoms return.

While none of the above will cure NET, each can have a significant impact on both quality and length of life. Talk to your doctor about how they may apply to your particular situation.