Rising Incidence of Neuroendocrine Tumors

Daniel M. Halperin, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, opens this OncLive Insights program on neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and introduces Jonathan R. Strosberg, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center, and Simron Singh, MD, MPH, of Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre. Singh then describes a consistent rise in the incidence of NETs over recent decades that has not plateaued. He attributes part of the increase to better screening and diagnostic tools but believes there is more to the story. Because many patients live for years with the disease, he argues that prevalence matters as much as incidence, noting that nearly 1 in 1000 people have lived with or are living with neuroendocrine cancer. Singh suggests NETs no longer meet the definition of a rare disease and should be considered uncommon, comparable to cervical or ovarian cancer, with implications for the resources and treatments patients need.