'I'm shocked doctors haven't heard of my invisible cancer'

Key Points:

• Rachel Wood, a 55-year-old woman from Shrewsbury with incurable neuroendocrine cancer, is advocating for increased awareness of the rare disease, which she describes as an "invisible cancer" due to its varied symptoms and difficulty in diagnosis.
• Wood experienced an 18-month delay in diagnosis because healthcare professionals, including consultants and gastroenterologists, were unfamiliar with neuroendocrine cancer, which can develop in organs like the stomach, bowel, pancreas, or lungs.
• Neuroendocrine Cancer UK reports that over 6,000 people in England are diagnosed annually, with an average diagnosis delay of 4.7 years, partly because symptoms mimic other conditions such as menopause, anxiety, and asthma.
• Wood emphasizes the need for neuroendocrine cancer to be included in medical training syllabuses to improve clinician awareness and prompt diagnosis, hoping that both healthcare providers and the public will recognize the possibility of this cancer earlier.
• Since her diagnosis, Wood has undergone major surgeries and radiotherapy and now receives specialist care, but she continues to campaign for better education and recognition of neuroendocrine cancer within the medical community.