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Review
. 2020 Apr;29(2):165-183.
doi: 10.1016/j.soc.2019.10.002.

Workup of Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Joseph S Dillon  1
Affiliations
Review

Workup of Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Joseph S Dillon. Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract or pancreas are rare. Their presentation overlaps with other intra-abdominal neoplasms, but can have unique features. The workup involves recognition of unusual clinical features associated with the tumors, imaging, analysis of blood or urine concentrations, and biopsy. Functional imaging takes advantage of the neuroendocrine tumor-specific expression of somatostatin receptors. There are characteristic features supporting the diagnosis on contrast-enhanced cross-sectional imaging. The use of tumor markers for biochemical diagnosis requires an understanding of the confounding variables affecting these assays. There are unique and specific immunohistochemical staining and grading requirements for appropriate diagnosis of these tumors.

Keywords: Biopsy; Clinical presentation; Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors; Imaging; Tumor markers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure This work was supported by National Cancer Institute SPORE Grant P50 CA174521-01.

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