What changed
Donna Marklew, a 44-year-old mother of four from Coventry, was diagnosed with rare neuroendocrine cancer after tissue removed during a hysterectomy was analysed at Warwick Hospital.
Scans later found tumours in her appendix, Fallopian tubes and surrounding tissue. She underwent a nine-hour operation in March 2025, but now needs three injections each week and has begun peptide receptor radionuclide therapy every two months.
Why it matters
Marklew’s diagnosis shows how quietly this cancer can enter someone’s life. Her hysterectomy was carried out because of complications linked to childbirth, not because doctors already suspected cancer. The diagnosis emerged only when the removed tissue was examined.
Neuroendocrine cancer begins in cells that make and release hormones. Those cells are spread throughout the body, so the disease can look like other conditions. Neuroendocrine Cancer UK estimates that about 6,000 people in the UK develop it each year, while the charity says the average gap between a first symptom and diagnosis is five years.
Marklew’s cancer is grade two and slow-growing, which has helped her continue living normally during treatment. But “slow-growing” does not mean harmless: her tumours are still growing, and surgery alone has not controlled the disease.
Her experience also explains why rare diagnoses can be so isolating. She said she had never heard of neuroendocrine cancer and found herself trying to explain it to people who had no reference point. Raising awareness may not solve the diagnostic challenge, but it can make a frightening diagnosis less lonely.
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