Irrfan Khan suffering from Neuroendocrine Tumor! Everything you need to know about the disease

After much speculation and many rumours about what ailed the much loved Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, finally he tweeted about the 'rare disease' that he has. And it is Neuroendocrine Tumour. The actor added in his tweet that the disease is not about the brain. To quote him verbatim, "As for the rumours that were floated NEURO is not always about the brain." The actor is going out of the country to seek treatment and asked for wishes to be sent. For those who are wondering what this disease is all about, here we tell you.

What is Neuroendocrine Tumor?

Neuroendocrine tumour, or shortened as NET, is basically a condition in which an abnormal tissue growth arises in the hormone producing nervous cells (or neuroendocrine cells) of the body. Such tumors can develop in the intestines, where they are the most common, in the lungs, pancreas or anywhere in the rest of the body.

An endocrine tumour refers to the development of tumours in the hormone-producing or the endocrine cells of the body. But when those cells are also nerve cells, the condition becomes neuroendocrine tumour.

Whether or not the tumour is serious depends on if it is benign or malignant. This depends on the affected body part and if the growth has spread to and affected other parts of the body.

Types of Neuroendocrine Tumour

There can be many types of NET depending on the affected organ. These include the Pheochromocytoma, Merkel cell cancer, Neuroendocrine carcinoma and Paraganglioma.

Pheochromocytoma is to do with the chromaffin cells that produce adrenaline and is related to the times of stress.

Merkel cell cancer is a rare and fast-growing cancer that starts in cells just under the skin and in the hair follicles. This condition is also called neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin. It usually affects the neck and head.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma can also develop in other areas such as the gastrointestinal tract lungs and brain.

The survival rate of Neuroendocrine Tumour

The survival rates for NET depends on many factors such as the affected body organs, whether the tumour is benign or malignant, so on and so forth. The disease is otherwise considered rare and is actually a broad term used to refer to a heterogeneous group of neoplasms.