Episode 3: Surgery for NETs
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
To cut or not to cut? A crossroad many neuroendocrine cancer patients are faced with along their journey. NET surgeon Dr. Gagandeep Singh of City of Hope answers the top 10 surgery questions for NETs.
MEET DR. GAGANDEEP SINGH
Gagandeep Singh, M.D., is an internationally recognized liver and pancreas surgeon. He is head of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery service City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. He is also the surgical director of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program and is the lead for the gastrointestinal disease team.
He started his faculty academic career at Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles. From there, he was appointed as director of the Liver and Pancreas Center at the John Wayne Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, California, where he also served as chair of the Cancer Committee and vice president for Fellowship Education. In 2010, City of Hope asked Dr. Singh to spearhead the liver and pancreatic cancer program. He was appointed clinical professor of surgery and as the new chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology (2011 to 2019) and hoisted the program to national recognition. He has an extensive referral base that reflects peer recognition of his clinical acumen and surgical expertise and is listed in “America’s Top Surgeons,” “Best Doctors of America,” “Super Doctors” and “Top Doctors of America.”
TOP 10 SURGERY QUESTIONS
1. Should all NET patients have surgery? How do I know if I’m a candidate for surgery? If 1 surgeon says I’m not, would another surgeon say something different?
2. How much control would a patient have regarding the approach and extent of surgery?
3. How do you control for carcinoid crisis during surgery?
4. Should all NET patients have their gallbladder removed? If mine wasn’t removed in my initial surgery, would you recommend going back to have it taken out?
5. If there are already liver mets, would you recommend having surgery? If so, how much should be taken out? Is there a role for taking out the primary tumor when there are liver mets?
6. Is there a role for surgery if there are bone mets?
7. What is the role of liver transplantation?
8. What are the risks of scar tissue from multiple surgeries? What can be done about it? (how many surgeries can a body handle?)
9. What is the role of adjuvant therapy for net? (Please also explain what adjuvant therapy is.)
10. What treatment or other development in this field are you most excited about? (What hope might you offer to those living with NET or their loved ones?)
For more resources and a transcript of this episode, visit https://www.lacnets.org/podcast3.