From devils to jobs: tracking neuroendocrine tumors

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a diverse group of cancers, increasing in frequency, which can arise virtually anywhere in the body from cells of both the endocrine and nervous systems. Even given their diversity, NETs generally share common histologic features, and most (up to 85% of non-incidental NETs) are “functional” in the sense that they produce hormones. Most clinically apparent NETs arise in the intestine or lungs, and are often grouped into foregut (including pancreas and lung), midgut, and hindgut tumors. Of the gastroenteropancreatic tumors, carcinoids (oddly named because they grew slowly and were thought to only be “cancer-like”) comprise ~2/3, while pancreatic endocrine tumors comprise the remaining ~1/3.