Does Biopsy Reliably Identify Grade In Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors?

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Introduction: A new proliferation-based grading system has proved important in establishing prognosis and guiding therapy in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). Biopsies are often performed for grading but little is known about their reliability in assigning grade.

Aim(s): To determine the accuracy of grade identification in virtual biopsies (VBs) of GEP-NETs.

Materials and methods: Twenty cases of resected G1 (11) or G2 (9) GEP-NETs were selected and grade assigned on the whole section (WS) by mitotic index and Ki-67-index. VBs (total 411) were constructed by leaving different, randomly selected and progressively smaller (30 - 0.25 mm sqd) areas of the WS unmasked. Number of neoplastic cells, Ki-67 index and grade were quantified in each VB and compared with Ki-67 and grade assessed on the WS.

Conference: 11th Annual ENETSConcerence (2014)

Presenting Author: Grillo F

Authors: Grillo F, Brisigotti M, Albertelli M, Mastracci L, Fiocca R,

Keywords: neuroendocrine, grade, biopsy,