Tuesday 30th March 2027
The meeting will take place at the Writer’s Suite, Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham, B15 2RS
Neuroendocrine tumours, although slow growing, are generally life-limiting and reduce quality of life.
Surgery can dramatically improve life expectancy and quality of life but its application in patients with stage 4 metastatic disease is challenging, being dependent on careful patient selection by capable and experienced multi-disciplinary teams. Lack of randomised clinical trial evidence means NET teams can take a decade or more to build adequate experience to confidently predict outcomes with surgery. Consequently, its application is limited. Alternately, medical treatments are better protocolised and easier to administer.
Accumulating positive evidence from surgery and liver transplantation case series suggests there is a need for greater use of these options. The development of Centres of Excellence and pockets of surgical expertise, functioning within highly experienced NET MDTs, provide the framework for patient identification and evaluation for surgery, including liver resection and liver transplantation. The national MDT for selecting patients with NET for liver transplantation has facilitated sharing of experience and learning from outcomes. It has greatly increased the confidence of NET and liver transplant specialists in choosing this therapy for patients.
This meeting will discuss the evidence and national experience for surgery. It shall highlight patient assessment and selection and empower NET teams to help more patients through surgery. Most importantly, it shall outline a proactive strategy to greatly increase access to surgery and liver transplantation with the hope of significantly improving patients’ lives.