Irrfan Khan suffering from neuroendocrine tumour

Mumbai, Mar 16: In a shocking news has revealed after much speculation and many rumors about what ailed the much-loved Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, finally, he tweeted about the 'rare disease' that he has. And it is Neuroendocrine Tumour. The actor added in his tweet that the disease is not about the brain.

To quote him verbatim, "As for the rumors that were floated NEURO is not always about the brain." The actor is going out of the country to seek treatment and asked for wishes to be sent. For those who are wondering what this disease is all about, here we tell you.

A neuroendocrine tumour, or shortened as NET, is basically a condition in which an abnormal tissue growth arises in the hormone-producing nervous cells (or neuroendocrine cells) of the body. Such tumours can develop in the intestines, where they are the most common, in the lungs, pancreas or anywhere in the rest of the body.

An endocrine tumour refers to the development of tumours in the hormone-producing or the endocrine cells of the body. But when those cells are also nerve cells, the condition becomes a neuroendocrine tumour.

Whether or not the tumour is serious depends on if it is benign or malignant. This depends on the affected body part and if the growth has spread to and affected other parts of the body.