Peter Mac’s Neuroendocrine Tumour (NET) Unit has grown in number of dedicated personnel, and its Centre of Excellence status has been formally extended.

The NET unit is the leading site in the Southern Hemisphere for the treatment of these complex tumours, and it sees patients primarily from across Australia as well as New Zealand and South East Asia.

It was the first outside of Europe to be granted “Neuroendocrine Cancer Centre of Excellence” status from the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS), in 2018 then led by Professor Rod Hicks and Professor Michael Michael.

This involved an extensive documentation process and external audit by the ENETS, which indicated the provision of high quality multidisciplinary care for patients with NET. Following a scheduled review, the ENETS has now extended this accreditation fully for another two years.

The NET unit is currently co-chaired by Professor Michael and Associate Professor Grace Kong, and it recently appointed a NET Unit Clinical Nurse Consultant in Kate Wakelin and Centre of Excellence coordinator Wing Fai Nip.

“We are delighted to announce our re-accreditation by ENETS which has further cemented our place as the premier NET Unit in Australia and our region,” says Professor Michael, NET Unit co-chair.

“We also warmly welcome the new members of our team who will now work with our multidisciplinary network of medical oncologists, nuclear medicine team, upper GI and hepatobiliary surgeons, endocrinologists, pathologists, specialist nurses and dieticians who are all dedicated and focussed on improving outcomes for NET patients.”

ENETS Centre of Excellence coordinator Wing Fai Nip
NET Unit Clinical Nurse Consultant Kate Wakelin

 Peter Mac’s Neuroendocrine Unit also leads an extensive clinical and laboratory based NET research program which is guiding new therapies for this group of rare diseases. 

Neuroendocrine tumours can occur anywhere in the body but particularly the small intestine, pancreas, lungs, appendix, and rectum.

Victorian Cancer Registry data indicates there were more than 8000 Victorian patients with neuroendocrine cancers from 1982 to 2019, and the incidence is rising.

Contact

For more information or to arrange an interview, call the Communications team on 0417 123 048.

About Peter Mac

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is a world-leading cancer research, education and treatment centre and Australia’s only public health service solely dedicated to caring for people affected by cancer.