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The lingo of neuroendocrine tumors
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As a gastrointestinal oncologist I see a fair number of patients with neuroendocrine tumors. And I struggle with explaining many things about this disease ... the lingo (carcinoid, peripheral neuroectodermal tumor, insulinomas, glucagonoma, secretory, nonsecretory, etc), the treatment options (surgery, ablation, clinical trials, octreotide) and, perhaps most importantly, the difference between pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. This is to say nothing of those patients I think may also have a multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome! (As an aside, I was at a pancreas cancer fundraiser recently, and the long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer who spoke at the event all had neuroendocrine tumors, not adenocarcinoma; it felt a bit misleading to me.)
Back to my original point, the difficulty counseling about neuroendocrine tumors: I came across this great article in Slate about islet cell tumors specifically and how the disease relates to Steve Jobs, but the article does a fantastic job (heh, no pun intended) explaining some of the lingo around these cancers. I'm thinking about printing it up for my patients. Steve Jobs is apparently considering a liver transplant for his "hormonal imbalance." Certainly that approach is controversial — but wouldn't that be something if he did it? I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the tumor board that discusses his case!