Progress in diagnosing and treating gastroenteropancreatic neoplasms

Abstract

<p indent=0mm>Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) are a group of highly heterogeneous malignancies originating from the diffuse neuroendocrine system, and their incidence has gradually increased in the past <sc>30 years.</sc> The results of molecular biological studies indicate that NENs of different grades and primary sites have distinct molecular characteristics and are responsible for the heterogeneity of clinical manifestations. Surgery remains the method to cure localized GEP-NENs, and prospective clinical study results support no adjuvant therapy. Treating advanced GEP-NENs requires multidisciplinary collaboration, including symptom and tumor proliferation control. Systemic treatment options for patients with metastatic well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) have expanded considerably. However, treating advanced poorly-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) lacks prospective randomized controlled study outcomes. Platinum-based chemotherapy is the preferred first-line treatment, and the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors still needs to be confirmed by further studies. The present report reviews the recent research progress in GEP-NENs.