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World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Feb 15, 2016; 7(1): 117-124
Published online Feb 15, 2016. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v7.i1.117
Small bowel neuroendocrine tumors: From pathophysiology to clinical approach
Sofia Xavier, Bruno Rosa, José Cotter
Sofia Xavier, Bruno Rosa, José Cotter, Department of Gastroenterology, Centro Hospitalar do Alto Ave, 4835-044 Guimarães, Portugal
José Cotter, ICVS/3B’s Associate Laboratory, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
José Cotter, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Author contributions: Xavier S performed the literature search, designed the text structure and wrote the text; Rosa B and Cotter J suggested the theme to be reviewed, and made the several critical corrections and revisions, including English editing, until the submitted version was achieved.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors hereby declare that they do not have any conflict-of-interest (including but not limited to commercial, personal, political, intellectual, or religious interests) related to the work submitted herein.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Sofia Xavier, Department of Gastroenterology, Centro Hospitalar do Alto Ave, Rua dos Cutileiros, Creixomil, 4835-044 Guimarães, Portugal. smaxavier@gmail.com
Telephone: +351-253-540330 Fax: +351-253-513592
Received: June 28, 2015
Peer-review started: July 5, 2015
First decision: August 16, 2015
Revised: September 9, 2015
Accepted: December 16, 2015
Article in press: December 18, 2015
Published online: February 15, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Annual incidence of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) has risen in the last years to 40 to 50 cases per million probably due to better diagnostic tools. Recurrent loss of chromosomes 11 and 18 and gains of chromosomes 4, 5, 19 and 20 have been shown in NETs. Several cancer-related pathways were implied in NETs associated mutations, including PI3K/Akt/mTOR and TGF-β pathways. Genes involved in secretory activity were conserved in NETs, however alterations in transcription factors associated with neurodevelopmental process were reported. Studies suggest that miRNA may have a role in ileal NETs development and progression.