Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jan;41(1):128-133.
doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000000751.

Mesenteric Tumor Deposits in Midgut Small Intestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors Are a Stronger Indicator Than Lymph Node Metastasis for Liver Metastasis and Poor Prognosis

Affiliations

Mesenteric Tumor Deposits in Midgut Small Intestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors Are a Stronger Indicator Than Lymph Node Metastasis for Liver Metastasis and Poor Prognosis

Cynthia R Fata et al. Am J Surg Pathol. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Mesenteric tumor deposits (MTDs) are not included in the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for midgut small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). We examined the prognostic significance of MTDs associated with midgut NETs. Hematoxylin and eosin slides from 132 resected jejunal/ileal NETs were reviewed for AJCC tumor stage, lymph node (LN) metastasis, MTDs, and hepatic metastases. MTDs were defined as discrete irregular mesenteric tumor nodules discontinuous from the primary tumor. Clinical or pathologic evidence of metastases and survival data were abstracted from electronic medical records. The cohort included 72 male and 60 female patients with a median age of 60 years. LN metastasis, MTDs, and liver metastasis were present in 80%, 68%, and 58% of patients, respectively. Female sex and presence of MTDs were independent predictors of liver metastasis. The odds ratio for hepatic metastasis in the presence of MTDs was 16.68 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.66-59.73) and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.20-3.26) for LN metastasis. Age, MTDs, and hepatic metastasis were associated with disease-specific survival (DSS) in univariate analysis. Primary tumor histologic grade, pT3/T4 stage, and LN metastasis were not associated with DSS. Multivariate analysis of liver metastasis-free survival stratified by tumor grade showed that MTDs were associated with adverse outcomes. The hazard ratio for MTDs was 4.58 (95% CI, 1.89-11.11), compared with 0.98 (95% CI, 0.47-2.05) for LN metastasis. MTDs, but not LN metastasis, in midgut NETs are a strong predictor for hepatic metastasis and are associated with poor DSS.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative mesenteric tumor deposits. A. A mesenteric tumor deposit with an irregular contour and associated fibrosis encasing large vessels; B. A higher power view of another mesenteric tumor deposit showing a possible vein involved by tumor (blue arrows) and an entrapped nerve; C. A lymph node completely replaced by neuroendocrine tumor with extra-nodal extension; D. A peritoneal tumor implant with partial mesothelial lining and containing no large vessels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A mesenteric tumor deposit with a vein containing a large tumor cluster (original magnification 40X).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Kaplan-Meier survival curves of patients with lymph node metastasis versus those without lymph node metastasis (A), with mesenteric tumor deposits versus those without mesenteric tumor deposits (B), with liver metastasis versus without liver metastasis (C).

References

    1. Mocellin S, Nitti D. Gastrointestinal carcinoid: epidemiological and survival evidence from a large population-based study (n = 25 531) Ann Oncol. 2013;24:3040–3044. - PubMed
    1. Solcia E, Vanoli A. Histogenesis and natural history of gut neuroendocrine tumors: present status. Endocr Pathol. 2014;25:165–170. - PubMed
    1. Haselkorn T, Whittemore AS, Lilienfeld DE. Incidence of small bowel cancer in the United States and worldwide: geographic, temporal, and racial differences. Cancer Causes Control. 2005;16:781–787. - PubMed
    1. Hauso O, Gustafsson BI, Kidd M, et al. Neuroendocrine tumor epidemiology: contrasting Norway and North America. Cancer. 2008;113:2655–2664. - PubMed
    1. Modlin IM, Champaneria MC, Chan AK, et al. A three-decade analysis of 3,911 small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors: the rapid pace of no progress. Am J Gastroenterol. 2007;102:1464–1473. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms