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World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2013; 19(47): 9012-9019
Published online Dec 21, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i47.9012
Published online Dec 21, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i47.9012
Clinically detected gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are on the rise: Epidemiological changes in Germany
Hans Scherübl, Christoph Schwertner, Joachim Steinberg, Jan Eick, Wanda Ring, Krishna Tiwari, Klinik für Gastroenterologie, GI Onkologie und Infektiologie, Vivantes Klinikum Am Urban, 10967 Berlin, Germany
Brigitte Streller, Roland Stabenow, Gemeinsames Krebsregister der Länder Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt und der Freistaaten Sachsen und Thüringen (GKR), 10967 Berlin, Germany
Hermann Herbst, Institut für Pathologie, Vivantes Netzwerk für Gesundheit GmbH, 10967 Berlin, Germany
Michael Höpfner, Institut für Physiologie, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Sören M Zappe, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, HNO-Klinik, Campus Virchow Klinikum, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Author contributions: Scherübl H analyzed data and wrote the paper; Streller B and Stabenow R performed research; Herbst H, Höpfner M, Schwertner C, Steinberg J, Eick J, Ring W and Tiwari K analyzed data; Zappa S performed research and wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Dr. Hans Scherübl, Professor, Klinik für Gastroenterologie, GI Onkologie und Infektiologie, Vivantes Klinikum Am Urban, Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus der Charité Dieffenbachstrasse 1, 10967 Berlin, Germany. hans.scheruebl@vivantes.de
Telephone: +49-301-30225201 Fax: +49-301-30225205
Received: February 25, 2013
Revised: July 17, 2013
Accepted: September 16, 2013
Published online: December 21, 2013
Revised: July 17, 2013
Accepted: September 16, 2013
Published online: December 21, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: Modern endoscopic and radiological tumor imaging have been implicated in the rise of the incidence of detected neuroendocrine tumors (NET) in Western countries. The particularities of German history, which resulted in two German states with two different health care systems from 1949-1989, allowed to study the epidemiological changes of NET in Germany on the background of two health care systems in 1949-1989. The number of detected gastroenteropancreatic-NET increased about 5-fold between 1976 and 2006. Most likely, the general availability of endoscopy after German reunification contributed to the major rise in frequency of detected rectal, gastric and duodenal NET in the new federal states of reunified Germany.