NET Patient Conference Brings Hundreds to Hear Latest Advances by LSU Health Faculty & Other Leading Experts

LSU Health New Orleans faculty, among the most experienced physicians in the world treating neuroendocrine tumors, will share their expertise, advances and results at the 2016 National Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) Patient Conference September 22 - 24, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans.

Eugene Woltering, MD, FACS, the James D. Rives Professor of Surgery and Neuroscience and Section Chief of Surgical Endocrinology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, will open the conference on Friday, September 23, 2016 at 7:45 a.m. in the Celestine Ballroom, Level Three. He will present Biomarkers: The Emerging Role of Pancreastatin & Neurokinin A at 9:45 a.m. Dr. Woltering will also provide a summary before offering concluding remarks each day.

Richard Campeau, MD, FACNM, Clinical Professor of Radiology and Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans, will present 131 IMIBG Therapy: Results of Our First 100 Cases at 1:30 p.m.

On Saturday, September 24, 2106, Yi-Zarn Wang, MD, BDS, FACS, Professor of Surgery, Section of Surgical Oncology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, will present Surgical Tricks for Cytoreducing NETs at 9:00 a.m.

The survival rates for patients treated at LSU Health New Orleans’ Neuroendocrine Tumor program affiliated with Ochsner-Kenner, is among the highest in the world – 87% at 5 years, 77% at 10 years and 41% at 20 years. They are the best 5-, 10- and 20-year survival rates reported in the world's literature to date.

About 500 patients from across the country are expected to participate in this conference, sponsored by the Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness Network and Ochsner-Kenner. It is structured differently than most other annual medical meetings. At this meeting, everything is geared toward the patients. It provides a venue where patients can learn the latest information directly from the sources who are the world’s leading experts in their disease and ask questions. Patients also present at the conference. The meeting also provides an opportunity to interact with others who have first-hand experience living with these rare tumors.

According to the National Cancer Institute, a neuroendocrine tumor is a tumor that forms from cells that release hormones into the blood in response to a signal from the nervous system. Neuroendocrine tumors may make higher-than-normal amounts of hormones, which can cause many different symptoms. These tumors may be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). Some examples of neuroendocrine tumors are carcinoid tumors, islet cell tumors, medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytomas, neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell cancer), small cell lung cancer, and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (a rare type of lung cancer).

Most of the time, these tumors grow very slowly. Because their symptoms can be vague and diverse, these tumors are often difficult to diagnose, with an average of delayed diagnosis of 10 years.

The full schedule for the conference is available here.