There is a critical need to develop improved diagnostic tools for non-invasive, early detection of NETs in a broader range of patients. New grant-funded research will work towards this goal.

Imagine being able to program your immune system to launch one million minuscule heat-seeking missiles, whose sole purpose is to find and kill cancer cells. This is the basic premise behind an emerging form of immunotherapy, called CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies an individual’s immune system to find, bind to, and kill cancer cells.

It can be difficult to biopsy tissue from pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) for genomic profiling. To help create safe and non-invasive tests for genomic mutations before, during, and after treatment in PNET patients, NETRF is funding researchers that are testing a novel alternative known as a “liquid biopsy.”

Growing small intestinal organoids in a petri dish. Sequencing the “runaway” DNA of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor from a blood sample. Evaluating whether environmental or infectious agents contribute to the development of NETs. The research programs funded by NETRF this year push the search for the causes of this disease to the horizon of emerging scientific research.