The Greatest Need in NET Research is Funding

Neuroendocrine cancer, which includes neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs), is a complex and often overlooked group of cancers. Often, NETs can be hard to diagnose, leading to increased wait times for treatment. Anna Greene, PhD, director of research at the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF), spoke with CancerNetwork® about the work being done in this field.

Greene specifically focuses on the vital role of funding in advancing neuroendocrine cancer research. Currently, neuroendocrine cancer receives significantly less funding compared with more well-known cancers like lung and prostate cancer. This disparity creates a substantial hurdle regarding research for treatments and a potential cure. While the NETRF is committed to strategic funding of research projects, the field also needs increased financial support to truly accelerate progress.

While funding is important, Greene highlights the importance of cultivating a dedicated community of NET cancer researchers. The NETRF offers awards to emerging talent through initiatives like the Mentored Research Award and travel grants to the annual research symposium. By fostering the growth of this specialized workforce, the NETRF aims to build a strong foundation for future breakthroughs in NET research.

Transcript:

Funding. We need more funding. Most disease states would say that they need more funding. We believe that’s the case as well. We did a survey of our community last year and asked them what the greatest need was, and by far, they all responded with more funding. When you think about more commonly known cancers like lung cancer or prostate cancer, these cancer types receive hundreds of millions of dollars in funding per year, and we’re funding NET cancer research at about a $2 million level right now. We hope to increase that, but there’s a huge gap there in NET cancer funding vs these more commonly known cancers. We try to be strategic with the projects we fund, but it’s hard to compete with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. We’re doing what we can to improve treatments and work toward a cure with our funding level, but we need more funding dedicated to NET cancer research.

Secondary to that is [we need] more NET cancer researchers. We want people who are dedicated to this disease type, who want to work in this [field] and they need funding. We try to do that through our mentored research award by bringing people into the field. We hope that they will be dedicated and join our cause. That’s another area where we’re working is to try to build that pipeline of NET cancer researchers. Another thing we’re trying to do is provide travel grants to our annual research symposium. We’re excited that we have dedicated funding for this year to bring in at least 10 early-career investigators to attend our symposium for little or no cost. That’s another way we’re trying to bring people into the field. We’re excited to have that happen.