The following is a summary of “Survival in patients with neuroendocrine tumors of the colon, rectum and small intestine,” published in the JANUARY 2023 issue of Surgery by Kelle, et al.

Colon, rectum, and small intestine (SI) neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) were becoming more common and commonplace. For a study, researchers assessed 5-year overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS).

They identified individuals with SI, colonic, and rectal NENs using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 18 registry from 2000 to 2017.

NENs of the rectum (n = 18,063, 38.7%), SI (18,084, 38.8%), and colon (n = 46,665 individuals) were all detected. Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the rectum patients had better 5-year OS by tumor location alone (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.68-0.77, P< 0.001) than those with other types of tumors. Patients who received oncologic resection for rectal poorly-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) had a worse 5-year OS (35.1%) compared to SI (72.5%), colon (41.9%), and other tumor types (41.9%).

The 5-year OS for NECs of the SI and colon may be improved by surgical resection, with the exception of the rectum, where survival was decreased. Rectal NECs should be given more regular monitoring and prompt systemic medication beginning.

Reference: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00623-7/fulltext