Cross-sectional imaging of neuroendocrine tumours

Abstract

Neuroendocrine tumours consist of heterogeneous and varied group of neoplasms with different clinical expression. Therefore, it is a challenge to diagnose these tumours at an early stage to be able to try to cure the disease or improve clinical performance and quality of life. The most reliable general markers for NETs are still chromogranin A and B, despite the various pitfalls related to analyses of these markers. However, they are still the working horses in most patients with NETs. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and pro-GRP are new interesting markers, particularly for patients with poorly differentiated NETs (NEC G3). Both chromogranin A and NSE have demonstrated a potential role as predictors of both response to treatment and survival. New potential circulating markers are microRNAs as well as circulating tumour cells. However, these markers have to be evaluated in larger tumour material to precisely delineate their role. There is still an unmet need for new sensitive markers for early detection and screening for NETs, but the most recent work on whole-genome sequencing might come up with new potential both circulating and tissue markers.