Well differentiated neuroendocrine tumors, a single center experience

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyze the demographic, histopathologic features of Neuroendocrine tumor (NET) cases and to underline the treatment approaches over seven years period in a high-volume cancer center. Methods: This study designed as a retrospective evaluation of NET registry data from a single medical oncology clinic between January 2012 and November 2017. Results: A total of 72 patients'? data were registered. The median age was 54 (18–84) years. The three most common sites of diagnosis were pancreas (19 cases, 26.4%), unknown primary with liver metastasis (15 cases-20.8%) and lung (10–13.9%). There was no association between the extent of disease and grade of NET (p = 0.73). Apart from pancreatic NETs, there was no difference in the stages of disease presentation (p > 0.05). Globally, estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 77.5% and 10-year OS rate was 57.8%. There was no statistically significant difference in estimated 5- year OS rates of comparison between grade 1 and grade 2 NET's (69.9 vs. 91.8%, p = 0.19). In addition, Ki67 proliferative index did not make any difference in estimated 5- year OS rates (78.1 vs 77.7%, p = 0.71). Conclusions: The multimodality treatment, site specific approaches and radionuclide therapies lead to better response rates and a longer survival in patients. Although there is a difference in distribution and presentation of NET cases compared to previous publications, optimal treatment yields a good Results?. Wherever possible, treatment of NETs is optimally scheduled by a multidisciplinary team, data collection should be centralized and audited by the team to make a clear conclusion for a less acknowledged tumor type. Keywords: Neuroendocrine tumor, Grade, Ki67, Carcinoid tumor