Recent Advances in The Diagnosis of Well-Differentiated Colon Neuroendocrine Tumors

Abstract

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare tumors that appear with secondary symptoms based on the release of vasoactive peptides and hormones into the blood as an answer to a signal from the nervous system. Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the colon are epithelial neoplasms with neuroendocrine differentiation and are classified in step with the foremost recent WHO 2022 classification as well- differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma- mas (NECs. NETs can be divided into serotonin-producing enterochromaffin-cell neuroendocrine tumor and glicentin-PYY-producing L-cell neuroendocrine tumor. Compared to NECs, NETs are often idle lesions occurring as incidental findings, being generally characterized by indolent course and relatively frequent ab- since of specific symptoms, which underscores the significance of establishing a prompt and accurate diagnosis, colonic neuroendocrine tumors generally presenting as a large tumor with local or distant metastasis (generally liver) at the time of diagnosis. While utmost colon NETs are considered non-aggressive tumors, a few cases may show a more aggressive clinical course. Clinical/pathological characteristics to select cases at high threat of recurrence/metastases are sadly inadequately consolidated. Diagnosis is based on the combination of clinical presentation, biochemical markers, endoscopy, imaging and confirmed by histopathology. Differential diagnostic for NETs can cause various problems: the rare appendiceal tubular and clear cell variants (which may be confused with non-neuroendocrine cancers). This review presents the updates in established diagnostic tests and tests that require further development, investigation, and validation before use [1,7].