Diagnosing and Risk Factors in Neuroendocrine Tumors

The panel reviews how neuroendocrine tumors are defined and classified, distinguishing well-differentiated tumors from poorly differentiated carcinomas and grading well-differentiated disease by mitotic index and Ki-67 across grades 1 through 3. Faculty outline the diagnostic workup, including contrast-enhanced CT or MRI, functional imaging, and hormonal evaluation in functional tumors. They describe the most common primary sites, noting gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and bronchopulmonary origins, and characterize typical presentations ranging from incidental detection to functional syndromes and locally driven symptoms. The discussion closes with risk factors, including hereditary syndromes such as multiple endocrine neoplasia, von Hippel-Lindau, and neurofibromatosis, while emphasizing that most cases remain sporadic with unclear causation.