Patient-Reported Experience of Diagnosis, Management, and Burden of Neuroendocrine Tumors: Results From a Large Patient Survey in the United States.

Pancreas

From the *Neuroendocrine Program, Montefiore M-E Center for Cancer Care, Bronx, NY; †The Unicorn Foundation, Mosman, New South Wales, Australia; ‡The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation, Inc., White Plains, NY; §APOZ & Friends, Sofia, Bulgaria; ∥Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) Research Foundation, Boston, MA; and ¶Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.

Published: March 2018

Objectives: The aim of this survey was to examine the experience of patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) to raise awareness of the NET-related burden and identify unmet needs. Here, we report data from patients in the United States.

Methods: Patients with NETs participated in a 25-minute anonymous survey, conducted primarily online from February to May 2014. Survey questions captured information on sociodemographics, clinical characteristics, NET diagnostic experience, disease impact/management, interaction with medical teams, and NETs knowledge/awareness.

Results: Of 1928 patients who participated globally, the largest percentage was from the United States (39%). Approximately 50% of US patients reported being diagnosed with other conditions before receiving their NET diagnosis, which for 34% took 5 years or more. Patients experienced many symptoms on a daily basis as a result of NETs, which had a substantial negative impact on their work and daily lives. Numerous improvements were suggested by patients, including better access to NET-specific treatments and medical teams/centers and better education for the management of disease-related and treatment-related symptoms.

Conclusions: This survey demonstrated the significant burden of NETs on patients' lives and identified key areas for improvement in diagnosis and long-term management, including better access to NET-specific treatments and specialist medical teams/centers.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404397PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MPA.0000000000000818DOI Listing

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