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A retrospective review of diagnosis and treatment modalities of neuroendocrine tumors (excluding primary lung cancer) in 10 oncological institutions of the East German Study Group of Hematology and Oncology (OSHO), 2010–2012

  • Original Article – Clinical Oncology
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Abstract

Rationale

There is a paucity of data on the incidence of neuroendocrine tumors (NET) outside pulmonary primaries and on treatment modalities applied to patients with NET in clinical practice. Only very little therapeutic progress has been made with respect to response and overall survival, particularly among patients with poorly differentiated, WHO grade 3 neuroendocrine carcinomas (G3-NEC). We sought to document the incidence and treatment modalities in patients with NET/NEC within a period of 2 years.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective data analysis using a simple documentation file to be completed in written form or electronically, including localization, WHO grading, treatment modalities, and specific therapeutic regimens applied. Primary lung cancer was excluded. The time period to be covered was 2010 through 2012. Individual patient data such as names or age were not documented, so that no ethics committee approval was required.

Results

Ten different hospital- or practice-based institutions contributed their data. One to 35 patients were documented per institution, summing up to 149 patients with 154 tumor localizations. Midgut (n = 46), foregut (n = 42), hindgut (n = 17), lung (n = 9), bladder (n = 8), unknown primary (n = 11), and other including prostate and liver (n = 21) were documented as tumor sites. Histological gradings were G1 (n = 71), G2 (n = 27), G3 (n = 34), undifferentiated “G4” (n = 4), and not specified (n = 13). Treatment modalities were surgical resection (n = 102), chemotherapy (n = 49), somatostatin analogs (n = 39), radiotherapy (n = 22), receptor-directed radionuclide therapy (n = 12), and systemic tyrosine kinase inhibition (n = 5). Chemotherapy was given to patients not only with G3-NEC (n = 31), but also with G2 (n = 12) and G1 NET (n = 7). Somatostatin analogs as well as receptor-directed radionuclides were applied to patients throughout all gradings.

Conclusions

NET and NEC are not very rare tumor entities, but are diagnosed with very different frequencies, possibly depending upon the alertness of pathologists and clinicians. Chemotherapy, receptor-directed radionuclide application, and somatostatin analog therapy are applied without a clear correlation to different histologic gradings. Diagnostic and therapeutic progress in the field of NETs/carcinomas is urgently needed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Simone Wendt (Potsdam) and Rainer Krahl (Leipzig) for providing excellent data management.

Conflict of interest

All co-authors have no conflicts of interest with respect to this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klinik für Hämatologie, Onkologie und Palliativmedizin, Klinikum Ernst von Bergmann gGmbH, Charlottenstrasse 72, 14467, Potsdam, Germany

    Georg Maschmeyer

  2. Klinik für Innere Medizin II, Hämatologie/Internistische Onkologie, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07740, Jena, Germany

    Lars-Olof Mügge

  3. Praxis für Hämatologie und Onkologie, Rathausplatz 3-7, 58507, Lüdenscheid, Germany

    Dietrich Kämpfe

  4. Klinik für Innere Medizin III, Hämatologie, Onkologie und Palliativmedizin, Heinrich-Braun-Klinikum Zwickau gGmbH, Karl-Keil-Str. 35, 08060, Zwickau, Germany

    Ute Kreibich

  5. Internistische Gemeinschaftspraxis, Am Wall 1, 18273, Güstrow, Germany

    Stephan Wilhelm

  6. Schwerpunktpraxis Hämatologie/Onkologie, MVZ Elblandpolikliniken GmbH, A.-Puschkinplatz 4c, 01587, Riesa, Germany

    Michael Aßmann

  7. Schwerpunktpraxis für Hämatologie und Onkologie, Paracelsus Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum Schöneck I, Albertplatz 1, 08261, Schöneck, Germany

    Maik Schwarz

  8. Klinik für Hämatologie und Onkologie, Klinikum Magdeburg gGmbH, Birkenallee 34, 39130, Magdeburg, Germany

    Christoph Kahl

  9. Klinik für Hämatologie, Onkologie und Palliativmedizin, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Ernst-Heydemann-Str. 6, 18057, Rostock, Germany

    Christoph Kahl

  10. Klinik für Innere Medizin III, HELIOS Kreiskrankenhaus Gotha/Ohrdruf, Heliosstraße 1, 99867, Gotha, Germany

    Susanne Köhler

  11. Klinik für Innere Medizin I, Abteilung Hämatologie und Internistische Onkologie, Dietrich- Bonhoeffer- Klinikum Neubrandenburg, Dr.-Salvador- Allende- Str. 30, 17036, Neubrandenburg, Germany

    Norbert Grobe

  12. Abteilung Hämatologie, Internistische Onkologie und Hämostaseologie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Johannisallee 32A, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Dietger Niederwieser

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  1. Georg Maschmeyer
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  2. Lars-Olof Mügge
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  3. Dietrich Kämpfe
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  4. Ute Kreibich
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  5. Stephan Wilhelm
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  6. Michael Aßmann
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  7. Maik Schwarz
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  8. Christoph Kahl
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  9. Susanne Köhler
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  11. Dietger Niederwieser
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Correspondence to Georg Maschmeyer.

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Maschmeyer, G., Mügge, LO., Kämpfe, D. et al. A retrospective review of diagnosis and treatment modalities of neuroendocrine tumors (excluding primary lung cancer) in 10 oncological institutions of the East German Study Group of Hematology and Oncology (OSHO), 2010–2012. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 141, 1639–1644 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-015-1954-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-015-1954-x

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