Radiological Imaging of Gastro-Entero-Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors. The Review of Current Literature Emphasizing the Diagnostic Value of Chosen Imaging Methods

Gabriela Półtorak-Szymczak; Tadeusz Budlewski; Mariusz Ireneusz Furmanek; Waldemar Wierzba; Katarzyna Sklinda; Jerzy Walecki; Bartosz Mruk

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.670233

Radiological Imaging of Gastro-Entero-Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors. The Review of Current Literature Emphasizing the Diagnostic Value of Chosen Imaging Methods

Front Oncol. 2021 Jun 15:11:670233. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.670233. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Gabriela Półtorak-Szymczak^{1

2}, Tadeusz Budlewski^{2

3}, Mariusz Ireneusz Furmanek^{1

2}, Waldemar Wierzba^{2

4}, Katarzyna Sklinda^{1

2}, Jerzy Walecki^{1

2}, Bartosz Mruk^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland.
² Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ University of Humanities and Economics, Lodz, Poland.

Abstract

Despite development of radiologic imaging, detection and follow-up of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) still pose a diagnostic challenge, due to the heterogeneity of NEN, their relatively long-term growth, and small size of primary tumor. A set of information obtained by using different radiological imaging tools simplifies a choice of the most appropriate treatment method. Moreover, radiological imaging plays an important role in the assessment of metastatic lesions, especially in the liver, as well as, tumor response to treatment. This article reviews the current, broadly in use imaging modalities which are applied to the diagnosis of GEP-NETs, (the most common type of NENs) and put emphasis on the strengths and limitations of each modality.

Keywords: computed tomography; gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor; magnetic resonance imaging; neuroendocrine tumor; radiology; ultrasonography.

Publication types

Review