Patients, physicians and other healthcare professionals to gather at Hilton Garden Inn April 4 - 6 to help the 171,000 people now living with neuroendocrine (NET) cancer in the U.S.
Patients, physicians and other healthcare professionals to gather at Hilton Garden Inn April 4 - 6 to help the 171,000 people now living with neuroendocrine (NET) cancer in the U.S.
Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin, is latest celebrity to succumb to NET cancer in August 2018
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mar. 8, 2018) -- It is no small task to bring together the thinkers, researchers, doctors and advocates from around the world who understand and practice the complexities of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) cancer care every day. Healing NET Foundation, a national non-profit organization based in Nashville and co-founded by NET cancer survivor and Executive Director, Cindy Lovelace and NET cancer physician and Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Eric Liu, are convening their fourth International Healing NET Summit at the Hilton Garden Inn on Apri 4 - 6 in Nashville, Tennessee. Neuroendocrine (NET) cancer experts and advocates are tasked with developing physician and nurse education tools and building better communication between the provider and the patient.
NET is the same complicated disease that eight years ago ended the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and most recently the “Queen Of Soul” Aretha Frankln. In fact, the need for Neuroendocrine (NET) cancer awareness was heightened as her physician, Dr. Philip A. Philip, confirmed Franklin’s correct diagnosis -- pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, commonly referred to as pNETs, while well-known national media outlets reported “pancreatic cancer” and put out incorrect statistics that do not apply for pNETs. Dr. Philip stated, “The only thing they have in common is they both arise from the pancreas.”
Note: Dr. Philip will be in attendance of this year’s International Healing NET Summit.
Why does the terminology matter? The incidence of neuroendocrine cancer is rising. The disease is considered rare, but based on the National Cancer Institute’s SEER data, over 171,000 Americans are living with the disease, and each year over 20,000 more will be affected. There is a good chance the incidence and prevalence of the disease are even higher than that. Neuroendocrine cancer (NET) is a cryptic disease where patients often present with confusing or duplicate symptoms that mimic more benign diseases or show no symptoms at all. Due to the complicated and varied presentation of the disease and a lack of awareness even among healthcare professionals, the time to diagnosis can take more than five years.
Even with a proper diagnosis, there are treatment challenges. Neuroendocrine tumors can appear in many places in the body, such as the lungs, the GI tract and the pancreas, but they are different from the cancers more commonly found in those organs and require different care. There is a risk of treatment being too aggressive or insufficient because community providers may not be aware of the options and experts may be at distant centers.
The Summit will gather a select group of forty-five multidisciplinary physicians, researchers, nursing professionals, and patient advocates to find solutions and identify next steps to meet the unique needs of the NET patient community. Doctors from as far away as Sweden and Ireland will be in attendance.
Last year, the Healing NET Foundation shared Gil Schaenzle’s moving story that sparked human interest features from around the globe on her demanding pursuit to honor her only child, 21 year old Anna Rose and raise awareness on NET cancer. The inspiring mom from Colorado accumulated 42,000 miles as she traveled across 35 states and completed over 350 miles on foot in 51 National Parks, along with 12 National Monuments and 2 National Preserves. Read Gil’s chronicles of her journey HERE. Gil will be attending the International Heailng NET Foundation Summit. Watch her segment on NBC’s Today below:
ABOUT THE HEALING NET FOUNDATION
The Healing NET Foundation is a nonprofit organization on a mission to optimize the care of those with neuroendocrine cancer through the education of and collaboration among physicians, health care providers, patients, and caregivers.
The Healing NET Foundation story began with a meeting between a patient and NET physician. Co-Founder Cindy Lovelace (patient) was already a breast cancer survivor, but her oncologist had little information to manage her NET cancer diagnosis. Six months after surgery to remove the neuroendocrine tumor, Lovelace learned from a national news report that Steve Jobs had died after battling the same disease. From an internet search, she discovered Co-Founder Dr. Eric Liu, a NET surgeon and specialist, worked only one and a half miles away from her oncologist’s office. He had studied neuroendocrine tumors with ground-breaking researchers in Europe, where new NET treatments began and are slowly being translated into FDA-approved programs in the U. S. The story represents the all too familiar and frustrating journey NET patients nationwide embark on in trying to find a provider who really understands their disease. To learn more, please visit www.thehealingnet.org
ABOUT CINDY LOVELACE
Before her diagnosis with neuroendocrine cancer in 2011, Cindy (Francis) Lovelace had an extensive career in communications and media, serving as Director of Marketing/Promotions at WKDF/WGFX Radio (Titans Radio) and prior to that as a Capitol Hill reporter at the Tennessee state legislature. In 2010 Lovelace accepted a position as Director of Development for the T. J. Martell Foundation office in Nashville, a national organization that raises monies for cancer research. She led the organization’s efforts in Nashville to raise $2 million over a two year period, chiefly through artist-related events. She was one of the first patients to participate in the first Gallium 68 clinical trial to diagnose NET tumors in the U. S., initiated by Dr. Liu. Lovelace was inspired by the work of Dr. Liu to don an “entrepreneur hat” and together they established a non-profit to focus on neuroendocrine awareness and education. Cindy is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Healing NET Foundation and lives in Old Hickory, TN with her husband Gene.
ABOUT ERIC LIU
Dr. Liu is a surgeon with specialty in neuroendocrine disease and is the Co-founder Chief Medical Advisor for The Healing NET Foundation. His Education credentials are as follows—Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, AB, 1992-1996, Biochemistry Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY, MD, 1996-2000 Columbia University, Research Fellowship, Mark Hardy, M.D., Islet Transplantation, 2000-2001 New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, Residency in General Surgery, 2001-2004, 2007-2009 National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health, Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Islet/Autoimmunity Branch, David Harlan, 2004-2007. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, Fellowship in Neuroendocrine Oncology, Kjell Oberg, 2009. Vanderbilt University, Master of Science Clinical Investigation, 2013.
Dr. Liu was responsible for establishing the first clinical trial of the Gallium 68/Pet Scan to diagnose neuroendocrine tumors in the United States at Vanderbilt. He studied at the Neuroendocrine Center for Excellence at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, theworld’s leader in NET research, under Dr. Kjell Oberg.
Dr. Liu lectures across the country and has served as a NET expert in radio/ television media tours. In 2015 he partnered with Dr. Allen Cohn (oncologist) at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers in Denver, CO to launch The Neuroendocrine Institute at RMCC. He and his wife Eunice live in Denver, CO with their three children, Ian, Christopher, and Caroline.
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For further information, contact:
Melissa Mathews / Wortman Works Media & Marketing
615-310-5859
