Midwife diagnosed with rare cancer months after tongue cancer surgery

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 08:36 · Archive

A 59-year-old midwife from Guisborough has been diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in her lungs, just one month after successful surgery to remove tongue cancer. Anna Temke was given the diagnosis in July 2025 following a biopsy. She described receiving the second diagnosis as 'just as devastating' as the first, despite feeling healthier than ever beforehand.

Neuroendocrine cancer develops in hormone-producing cells and can affect multiple organs including the lungs, bowel, liver, pancreas and appendix. The condition affects around 6,000 people in the UK each year and takes an average of nearly five years to diagnose. More than 50 per cent of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and the cancer is often missed, misdiagnosed or misunderstood.

Temke has worked in the NHS since she was 17 and has been a midwife for 21 years. Despite her diagnosis, she continues to work in the role with support from colleagues. She has become an ambassador for Neuroendocrine Cancer UK and is on a mission to raise awareness of the condition among GPs, medical teams, nurses and the public, particularly ahead of World Neuroendocrine Cancer Day on 10 November. She has said that even healthcare professionals have required explanation of what neuroendocrine cancer is.

Midwife diagnosed with rare cancer months after tongue cancer surgery — Image: The Northern Echo

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How it is being reported

North East midwife on mission to raise awareness of rare cancer after shock diagnosisAnna Temke, a midwife from Guisborough with neuroendocrine cancer, is raising awareness of the rare disease.The Northern Echo · 5 Nov, 08:00
Midwife's world turned upside down after 'invisible' cancer diagnosis weeks after successful surgeryThe devastating diagnosis hasn't stopped Anna Temke from working as a midwife, a job she's had for 21 yearsTeessideLive · 4 Nov, 12:22

In this story: Anna Temke · Guisborough · The James Cook University Hospital · The Christie NHS Foundation Trust · Neuroendocrine Cancer UK · NHS

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