ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Prevalence, distribution, and prognostic significance of morphological variants of neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract – a multicenter study
1
Department of Pathology, Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey
2
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey
3
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul, Turkey
4
Department of Pathology, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey
5
Department of Pathology, Yozgat City Hospital, Yozgat, Turkey
6
Department of Pathology, Osmaniye State Hospital, Osmaniye, Turkey
7
Department of Pathology, Aydın State Hospital, Aydın, Turkey
Submission date: 2023-12-03
Final revision date: 2024-02-08
Acceptance date: 2024-02-14
Publication date: 2024-07-01
Corresponding author
Ebru Akay
Associate Professor Ebru Akay Department of Pathology Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital Kayseri, Turkey
Associate Professor Ebru Akay Department of Pathology Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital Kayseri, Turkey
Pol J Pathol 2024;75(2):126-137
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The incidence and prevalence of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) in many organs are increasing. Although such NENs have similar grades, they may exhibit quite different behaviors. In this multicenter study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and distribution of different morphological NEN variants in the non-pancreatic gastrointestinal (GI) tract and determine whether they can guide prognosis prediction.
Two hundred and fifty-six patients diagnosed with NENs originating from the GI tract from 7 different centers were included in the study. In 89 (36.6%) cases, different morphological variants were detected.
When the variants were grouped according to their aggressiveness as described in the literature, a statistically significant relationship between aggressiveness and the variables organ and age was found (p < 0.05). The oncocytic variant was found to metastasize more than the other aggressive types (42.9%). The paraganglioma-like variant was found to have a smaller size, lower proliferation index, and a more benign clinical course.
This study demonstrated that well-differentiated GI neuroendocrine tumors (GI-NETs) have considerable morphological diversity. Generally, case reports of rare morphological variants of GI-NETs are available in the literature. We believe that our study contributes to a better understanding of the prevalence, localization, and significance of morphological variations in GI-NETs.
Two hundred and fifty-six patients diagnosed with NENs originating from the GI tract from 7 different centers were included in the study. In 89 (36.6%) cases, different morphological variants were detected.
When the variants were grouped according to their aggressiveness as described in the literature, a statistically significant relationship between aggressiveness and the variables organ and age was found (p < 0.05). The oncocytic variant was found to metastasize more than the other aggressive types (42.9%). The paraganglioma-like variant was found to have a smaller size, lower proliferation index, and a more benign clinical course.
This study demonstrated that well-differentiated GI neuroendocrine tumors (GI-NETs) have considerable morphological diversity. Generally, case reports of rare morphological variants of GI-NETs are available in the literature. We believe that our study contributes to a better understanding of the prevalence, localization, and significance of morphological variations in GI-NETs.
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