Support Services for NET Patients

Our goal is to deliver world class care from a holistic approach, to address your ongoing needs throughout your healthcare journey. Often, as patients and families go through treatment, new medical, emotional or financial needs arise. Please be sure to inquire about our various supportive services listed below.

  • Oncology Social Workers are MSWs who specialize in cancer care and are available to UCSF Cancer Center patients and their families. Clinical social workers can meet with patients at any time throughout the trajectory of their care and work closely with the patient’s care team.  Please contact us at 415-353-4762 for more information.
  • The Psycho-Oncology Service at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center includes psychologists and psychiatrists who care deeply about the emotional needs of patients and their families as they cope with cancer and treatment.
  • The Symptom Management Service offers consultations for physicians to improve the quality of life and care for patients at UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
  • Nutrition Services. The services are open to UCSF cancer patients at no charge, although donations are appreciated. A dietitian is available Monday through Friday between 9 am and 5 pm at both the UCSF Mount Zion and UCSF Mission Bay campuses. UCSF cancer patient can request one-on-one appointments by calling 415-502-5547.  Additional NET-related nutrition resources are listed here.
  • The Cancer Exercise Counseling Program at UCSF offers one-on-one exercise counseling to cancer patients at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Patients of all ages and fitness levels are welcome. UCSF cancer patients can request a one-on-one appointment by calling 415-502-5547.
  • The Cancer Survivorship Program has been designed to address common questions after diagnosis. By providing guidelines, clinical care and wellness resources, it enables patients to focus on recovery and maximizing quality of life.
  • The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine strives to integrate modern medicine, healthy lifestyle practices and established healing approaches from around the globe, in an effort to meet the need for a new model of care that promotes healing and well-being of the whole person—mind, body and spirit. Practitioners are trained in both conventional and complementary therapies, and offer a professionally guided whole-person approach to health care. A variety of services are provided.
  • The Patient and Family Cancer Support Center promotes wellness and healing by providing patients and their loved ones with information, emotional support and access to community resources.
  • Art for Recovery nurtures the aesthetic sensibilities of patients, visitors, and medical staff at the various campuses of UCSF Medical Center and in the community, and creates a safe haven for patients and staff to be heard, to express their feelings and find support.
  • Upcoming Patient Events

NET Support Groups (Bay Area)

National NET Organizations/Resources

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June 2017, Dr. Emily Bergsland received the Ernest H. Rosenbaum, M.D., Commitment to Patient Care Award for her long-standing dedication to her patients and ongoing efforts to improve care for people with neuroendocrine tumors. The award recognizes clinicians who are deeply committed to the highest quality patient care.

 

In December 2016, Dr. Thomas Hope received the first NETRF/ERF Nuclear Medicine Pilot Research Grant. The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) established the grant to explore innovations in nuclear medicine focused on diagnosis and treatment. The Education and Research Foundation for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (ERF) solicited proposals and convened the scientific review panel to select the recipient. Hope’s project is titled “Intra-Arterial Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (I-A PRRT) using 90Y DOTA-TOC.” The primary goals are to evaluate possible liver, bone marrow and kidney toxicity after hepatic arterial injection and to evaluate imaging tumor response three months after treatment. Dr. Hope’s principal co-investigators are Dr. Emily Bergsland and Dr. Nicholas Fidelman.

 

In 2016, the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation recognized Dr. Eric Nakakura for his projected titled “Development of a Mouse Model of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Cancer.” His xenograft mouse model will be useful in helping develop and test potential new therapies for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

 

In 2016, the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation named Dr. Michael Germanthe NETRF Petersen Investigator for his project titled, “Treating Neuroendocrine Tumors via Synthetic Lethality.” His research aims to analyze how certain pathways interact to control neuroendocrine cell survival and death, and to evaluate synthetic lethal interactions—a gene therapy targeting cancer cells—in a patient-derived xenograft tumor model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

 

What is PRRT?

PRRT (177Lu-DOTATATE) is currently available at UCSF.

For evaluation, please request an appointment.

PRRT stands for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy.  Peptide refers to a small molecule that is very similar to the naturally occurring hormone somatostatin.  We call it a somatostatin analog, meaning that it is similar but not identical to somatostatin.  There are a number of somatostatin analogs that are use in patients with neuroendocrine tumors including octreotide, sandostatin, lanreotide.  These peptides bind to the somatostatin receptor that is expressed on the majority of neuroendocrine tumor cells. 

 

When binding to these receptors the peptide is brought into the tumor cell and stays there.  Because neuroendocrine tumor cells are one of the few cells in the body that express somatostatin receptors, we are able to target our peptide to the tumor cells using the receptor.  Radionuclide refers to the radiation that we attach to the peptide. 

 

There are different types of radiation that we can use, but in PRRT all the radiation given off is the type that can be used to kill cells.  Therapy refers to the idea that we are using peptides to target the receptors and bring the radionuclide into the tumor cells in order to treat the cells.  That is PRRT.

 

 

Published guidelines for treatment of NETs

UCSF Drs. Eric Nakakura and Emily Bergsland discuss carcinoid syndrome on ITV

 June 20, 2016

 

Dr. Emily Bergsland - NET Primer

January 24, 2016

 

The Patient & Family Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) 2016 Conference

January 2016, Mission Bay Conference Center

Hosted by the HDFCCC in cooperation with NorCal CarciNET, NET Research Foundation, and Stanford University Medical Center