Awareness
You may be thinking you are all alone in your fight with this disease, but you are not. Awareness of the disease and how to get the treatment and support you deserve are paramount to your well-being.
One way we try to advance awareness is through events that catch people's attention.
Awareness of neuroendocrine tumours and cancers is a mission for patients, family, friends, doctors, and researchers everywhere.
For patients, family, and friends, knowledge can develop through our local Support Group meetings, an online Canadian support-and-education group, and through important online resources which educate about NETs. The types of knowledge which can be gained both in Canada and abroad are: diagnosis methods; treatments available; clinical trials; and current research.
Conferences, such as the Canadian Patient-Doctor Carcinoid NeuroEndocrine conferences, bring medical professionals and patients together and are extremely valuable for creating awareness about NETs. Read what other NET patients (lovingly referred to as "Fellow NOIDS") have experienced in their fight against this disease in our Patient Stories section. You can also share your personal experience, if you wish.
"If you don't suspect it you can't detect it."
Doctors need to "think zebras, not horses" to successfully diagnose carcinoid NETs. Doctors also need to be prepared to expect the unexpected with this series of tumours and cancers. The incidence of misdiagnosis of NETs will be lessened as a result of increased awareness.
Primary care physicians and other medical professional should recognize that neuroendocrine tumours are very often cancerous, and not always indolent in nature. There are a small number of specialized centres to which NET patients are referred. The unfamiliar specifics of diagnosis and treatment are familiar to the treating physicians in these centres. Medical professionals should be aware of the location of these centres.
The Carcinoid-NeuroEndocrine Tumour Society-Canada wishes to promote: awareness; education; support; and information. This will be accomplished by expanding our Canada-wide patient support network through: conferences; contacting local hospitals, doctors’ offices, and pharmacies; hospital bulletins; magazine and newspaper articles; newsletters; and this website. Some of these activities will result in physicians obtaining Continuing Medical Education credits.
Neuroendocrine specialists have expressed a willingness to help CNETS Canada distribute neuroendocrine cancer information to other medical professionals and patients.
Our awareness campaign will also extend beyond the patient community and the medical community into the wider communities in which we live. This will consist of creating awareness events such as: Public Service announcements, newspaper articles, sponsored walks, dinner dances, concerts, art auctions, and sales of CNETS Canada merchandise.
This website, upcoming newsletters, and our developing Publicity Campaign will increasingly inform the general public about NETs. Several organizations have arisen to promote awareness and to advocate for cancer patients in Canada. ·
Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada
The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada produces an annual Report Card on Cancer in Canada. It advocates for all Cancer Patients. It does not accept Government Funding and this allows for independence. It is a not-for-profit and non-charitable advocacy group. It's vision is to provide an effective, comprehensive, evidence-based cancer system that offers Canadians the best chances for preventing and treating this disease,and addresses the emotional, physical and financial needs of patients and survivors.
Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is a new independent corporation charged with accelerating action on cancer control across Canada. The objectives of the cancer control strategy are to: reduce the expected number of new cases of cancer; enhance the quality of life of those living with cancer; and to lessen the likelihood of Canadians dying from cancer. It is eligible to receive $250 million in funding from the federal government over five years for this strategy. The organization includes representatives from cancer stakeholder organizations; the provinces and territories; patient, family and survivor groups; Canada's Aboriginal peoples; and the federal government.
Canadian Cancer Action Network
The Canadian Cancer Action Network is comprised of Canada's leading cancer patient organizations. Its mission is to help build and sustain a cancer control model that is as successful as possible in combating cancer and to provide Canadians with the loud, clear voices of those who have been directly affected by the disease. CCAN members represent the interests of all Canadians affected by cancer. The organization works with federal and provincial decision makers to ensure a national system that optimizes care and treatment outcomes through all phases of the cancer control continuum, from prevention, through treatment and palliation.