Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: A retrospective study conducted in the Colombian Southwest

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are rare neoplasms originating in neuroendocrine cells from the gastric mucosa and submucosa, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and pancreas. Our aim was to describe their histopathologic, endoscopic, and clinical characteristics and the experience with these tumors at a tertiary care hospital center in the Colombian Southwest.

A retrospective, analytic, observational, and descriptive study included 93 patients diagnosed with GEP-NETs, within the time frame of 2018 and 2022. Their clinical histories were reviewed to collect the sociodemographic, clinical, endoscopic, pathologic, treatment, follow-up, and survival data.

Median patient age was 55.8 years, and 60.2% were women. A total of 78.5% of the patients presented with symptoms, the most common of which was abdominal pain (78.1%). The tumors were mainly located in the stomach (32.3%) and small intestine (23.7%). Histopathologically, 53.8% of the tumors were grade1, 30.1% were grade 2, 9.68% were grade 3, and 7.52% were carcinomas. Tumor location was significantly related to stage; the majority of tumors in stage I were in the stomach, whereas the stage IV tumors were in the small intestine. At the last evaluation, 40.9% of the patients were disease-free, disease was stable in 24.7% and progressive in 11.8%, and 18.3% of the patients died.

GEP-NETs are clinically heterogeneous, and their early diagnosis is dependent on the recognition of lesions in endoscopic and imaging studies. Early tumors are mainly located in the stomach and advanced tumors in the small intestine, with metastases in the liver and regional lymph nodes. The present study suggests the importance of disease awareness in the early detection of GEP-NETs; said factor, combined with timely interdisciplinary management, could significantly impact patient outcomes.