The multidisciplinary team of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: the radiologist’s challenge

Abstract

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs) are a heterogeneous group of tumours. An effective diagnosis requires a multimodal approach that combines evaluation of clinical symptoms, hormone levels, radiological and nuclear imaging, and histological confirmation. Imaging plays critical roles in NETs diagnosis, prognosis and management, so the radiologists are important members of the multidisciplinary team. During diagnostic workup two critical issues are present, firstly the need to identify tumor presence and secondly to define the primary site and assess regional and distant metastases. The most appropriate imaging technique depends on the type of neuroendocrine tumour and the availability of specialized imaging techniques and expertise. There is no general consensus on the most efficient imaging pathway, reflecting the challenge in reliably detecting these tumour.