www.neuroendocrinecancer.org.uk
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Your medical team will advise you on post-treatment blood tests and will work with you and your local care team (if different) to arrange any post-treatment tests and scans you may need. You will also be given contact details for any post-treatment questions you may have, including a point of contact to report any side effects or changes in your well-being. Although you will have had a scan following RLT to check for uptake of the treatment, this scan is not intended to determine whether the treatment has worked. Scans to check for treatment response will usually be scheduled 3 to 6 months after completion of all four RLT treatments (or two if being re-treated). RLT is not a quick treatment; the true benefit may be felt in improvement in symptoms before any response is seen on scans. Your medical team will take great care in the timing and review of post-treatment scans, as sometimes, only occasionally, something called pseudo-progression may be observed. Pseudo-progression is defined as an initial increase in tumour growth that may be seen on scans, often due to treatment triggering an inflammatory response. It can occur in the first few weeks to months after treatment and will improve, with shrinkage back to pre-treatment size or smaller. It is NOT true tumour progression, but careful assessment of your scans is important to rule this out. RLT is administered to slow down or stop any disease that is progressing (growing); therefore, the response may be seen as stability (no further growth or new lesions) or in disease shrinkage (tumours may decrease in size or even become undetectable by scans). This may take time to be visible on scans; for example, while stability may be more readily observed, a reduction in tumour size may take up to 18 months after treatment has been completed to be clearly identified on scans.
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