A nation-wide retrospective epidemiological study of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms in china

BACKGROUND Representative data on the gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) in Asian patients is rare, especially in China. This study aims to create a GEP-NENs profile of Chinese patients. METHODS This was a hospital-based, nation-wide, and multi-center 10-year (2001-2010) retrospective study which collected GEP-NEN patients' information in tertiary referral hospitals. All 2010 inpatient GEP-NEN cases with confirmed pathology in the selected hospitals were included. The primary GEP-NEN sites were measured and the epidemiological and clinical information of each tumor site were compared. RESULTS The most common primary sites for GEP-NEN were the pancreas (31.5%) and rectum (29.6%), followed by the cardia (11.6%) and body (15.4%) of stomach. Small intestinal and colonic NENs took up a relatively small proportion of all patients. Pancreatic and rectal NENs, rather than cardiac and gastric body NENs, tended to be found in younger (P<0.001), female (P<0.001), urban (P<0.001) residents with a higher education level (P=0.032) and were also diagnosed at earlier stage (P<0.001) and lower grade (P<0.001). Surgery remained the primary treatment method in all groups. CONCLUSIONS More studies on the commonality and heterogeneity of GEP-NENs are warranted to improve diagnosis efficiencies and treatment outcomes.