Diagnostic and therapeutic role of endoscopy in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms have substantially increased over the last decades. Because of the indolent clinical course of the disease even in advance stages and the rise in the incidental diagnosis of small asymptomatic lesions, the prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms is higher than that of pancreatic, gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinomas, making them the second most prevalent cancer type of the gastrointestinal tract. This increase in the overall prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms has been paralleled by a growth in the importance of the endoscopist in the care of these patients, who usually require a multidisciplinary approach. In this manuscript the diagnostic and therapeutic role of endoscopic for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms will be reviewed. © 2013 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l.