Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), as the name suggests, are tumors arising from neuroendocrine cells
. After the changes in its classification, what is known about its behavioral patterns and
treatments has come into place. They usually originate from the gastrointestinal system and especially from the pancreas. However, they can also originate from many other organs of the body, including the lungs. Because most of these grow very slowly
compared to other cancers, they usually take years
to reach a measurable size or cause symptoms.
CLINICAL FEATURES
The vast majority of patients may not show any signs or symptoms. Since the majority of these are slow-growing tumors, patients usually consult a doctor in advanced stages.
The reasons for application may often be vague complaints such as jaundice, liver metastases or abdominal pain.
. Some neuroendocrine tumors secrete hormones and may cause symptoms depending on the type of hormones they secrete. For example, people who secrete gastrin, a substance that increases stomach acid, may have frequent and persistent stomach ulcers. Diarrhea may be prominent in the species that secrete hormones that increase intestinal motility.
Some of the slowly progressing species are called "carcinoid tumors". is the type called. Some of them present with complaints of hot flashes and sweating, called carcinoid syndrome. It can lead to heart failure
and may cause frequent diarrhea in later periods.
PATHOLOGICAL FEATURES
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification, it is graded as grade 1, 2, 3. .
Grade 1 is a well-differentiated, slowly progressing type called carcinoid tumor. Patients with carcinoid
tumors can live for many years even if nothing is done. As the grade increases
the behavior of the tumor worsens. Treatment options for Grade 3 tumors are extremely limited.
TREATMENT
Complete cure can be achieved with surgical treatment when detected in the early stages. Since the majority of patients arrive at the metastatic stage, these constitute the bulk of the treatment. tumor
liver Even in cases where it has spread, unlike other common tumors, they benefit from local treatments
. Direct chemotherapy or radiation therapy can be applied to tumors in the liver.
Things such as radiofrequency ablation (burning the tumor) can be done, or chemotherapy can be applied directly into the tumor, called transarterial
chemoembolization (TACE).
Local treatments applied in widespread disease are aimed at stopping or slightly
regressing the growth of the tumor.
The benefit of systemically applied hormonal treatments has been shown. A group of drugs called somatostatin analogues
is mostly preferred in patients with tumor-related symptoms.
Chemotherapy is applied to high-grade aggressive tumors such as small cell cancer.
These are very rapidly progressing tumors, they are relatively less likely to respond to treatment
maybe.
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