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Prognostic Factors in Gastrointestinal Endocrine Tumors

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Abstract

The gastrointestinal endocrine tumors are neoplastic lesions with often elusive malignant clinical behavior. The current WHO classification attempted to define a more effective approach by introducing the concepts of cell differentiation and site-specific malignancy, as well as specific criteria for carcinoma definition. WHO clinicopathological correlations embed the prognostic features: degree of cell differentiation, angioinvasion, proliferation fraction as assessed by mitotic index and Ki67, size, and functional activity. Other prognostic variables have been recognized, most of which related to specific biological features of neuroendocrine cancer cells. Nonetheless, the presence of liver or distant metastases are the prognostic variables ultimately determining the patients’ fate in terms of survival and/or therapy response. A recent proposal of tumor grading and tumor, nodes, and metastases (TNM) staging aims at a simple and practical system for patients stratification. Application of such proposal should be implemented in routine clinical practice.

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Acknowledgment

Source of support: grants from MURST (COFIN 05) and the University of Parma (FIL 05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Parma, Via Gramsci, 14, 43100, Parma, Italy

    Guido Rindi, Tiziana D’Adda, Elisabetta Froio, Giovanni Fellegara & Cesare Bordi

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  1. Guido Rindi
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  2. Tiziana D’Adda
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  3. Elisabetta Froio
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  4. Giovanni Fellegara
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  5. Cesare Bordi
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Correspondence to Guido Rindi.

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Rindi, G., D’Adda, T., Froio, E. et al. Prognostic Factors in Gastrointestinal Endocrine Tumors. Endocr Pathol 18, 145–149 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12022-007-0020-x

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