Abstract:
Background: Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumor (GI-NET) is a group of neoplasia consisting of amine and acid producing cells with different hormonal profiles. Although the entire GIS accounts for about 2% of tumors, recent research reveals that the incidence rate has increased. Given the increasing incidence in GI-NETs, more and more extensive research is needed on this subject. In this regard, the demographic and clinicopathological features of the patients diagnosed with GI-NET and their relationship with survival were investigated in the present study. Methods: Thirty-four patients diagnosed with GI-NETs between January 2009 and December 2019 at the Department of Gastroenterology, Inonu University Faculty of Medicine were analyzed retrospectively. Gender, age, tumor localization, metastasis status, tumor number, tumor diameter, tumor grade, Ki-67 index, and the relationships of these factors with overall survival were examined. Results: Of the patients, 61.8% included in the study were male and 38.2% were female. The average age of the patients was 60.74 years. The most common tumor location was in the stomach (26.5%) and liver (26.5%). Apart from this, 17.6% of NETs were seen in the pancreas, 11.8% in the colon, 8.8% in the rectum, 5.9% in the small intestine, and 2.9% in the appendix. No significant relationship was observed between tumor location and gender (p =.326) and age (p =.641). The tumor diameter ranged from 0.2 cm to 13.91 cm, but the average tumor diameter was 3.84 cm. Solitary tumor was found in 51.5% of cases and multiple tumors in 48.5% of cases. The most common grade was Grade 1 with 41.2% of occurrence. The average of Ki-67 index was 18.36%. There was metastasis in 52.9% of cases. The rate of medical treatment was 48.5%. The median overall survival time of the patients was 23.1 months. In addition, 1-year overall survival was 74.9%, 2-year overall survival was 44.6%, and 5-year overall survival was 35.7%. A statistically significant difference was found between tumor grade and the presence of metastasis, and the overall survival (p =.003 and p =.005). Conclusions: The tumor grade and the presence of metastasis in gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors were found to be the most important prognostic factors affecting overall survival. © 2021, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.