SCAN 2025: New Zealand leads on access, but patients still wait

For immediate release · 1 July 2026

New Zealanders with neuroendocrine cancer rarely pay for their treatment and now have some of the best access to PRRT in the world – but they still wait longer than patients overseas, and most have never heard of the trials and newer medicines available to others.

That is the finding of SCAN 2025, the first survey to set New Zealand’s experience of neuroendocrine cancer (NET) care beside the rest of the world’s. It draws on 110 New Zealand patients and 73 clinicians, and is published today by Neuroendocrine Cancer New Zealand.

Where New Zealand leads

• 91% of New Zealand patients say PRRT is provided free here, against 40% globally.
• 50% have seen a NET nurse specialist, against 28% globally. Care here is nurse-led, and it is free.

Where New Zealand falls behind

• 59% report delays to treatment, against 33% globally.
• Only 37% have heard of clinical trials for NETs, against 57% globally.

On overall quality of care, New Zealand scores 3.6 – level with the global average.

“This is where we stand. Now let us do something with it.”

Dr Michelle Sullivan, Chief Executive of Neuroendocrine Cancer New Zealand, said the survey reflects a cancer that is still poorly understood.

“When you are told you have a cancer most people have never heard of, the first thing you lose is certainty. For many of our people, the road to a name for it takes years, and only a fraction of the more than 400 New Zealanders diagnosed each year find their way to us.”

Some of the findings, she said, “made me proud: our people rarely pay for their treatment, we now have some of the best access to PRRT anywhere, and the care our nurses give is second to none.”

Others were harder reading.

“We still wait too long, and too many never hear about the trials and newer treatments others take for granted. These gaps are exactly what our goals are built to close. This is where we stand. Now let us do something with it.”

How far New Zealand has come

The first SCAN survey, in 2019, gave only a global picture. At that time New Zealand had just installed its first GaTate scanner – funded by Neuroendocrine Cancer New Zealand – and PRRT was not available here at all. Patients who needed it had to have the means to travel to Australia.

SCAN 2025 is the first time New Zealand’s experience could be set beside the world’s.

Read the report

SCAN 2025 – a New Zealand reading is available in full, with the underlying data.

About Neuroendocrine Cancer New Zealand

Neuroendocrine Cancer New Zealand is the national charity for New Zealanders affected by neuroendocrine cancer. It provides free nurse-led support, patient information and education, and advocates for better diagnosis and access to treatment. It receives no government funding and is entirely donation-powered. Registered charity CC49802.

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