An increased association between neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas (GEP-NET) and other second primary malignancies has been suggested. We determined whether there is indeed an increased risk for second primary malignancies in GEP-NET patients compared with an age- and sex-matched control group of patients with identical malignancies. The series comprised 243 men and 216 women, diagnosed with a GEP-NET between 2000 and 2009 in a tertiary referral center. The timeline, before-at-after diagnosis, and the type of other malignancies were studied using person-year methodology. Poisson distributions were used for testing statistical significance. All data were cross-checked with the Dutch National Cancer Registry. Out of 459 patients with GEP-NET, 67 (13.7%) had a second primary cancer diagnosis: 25 previous cancers (5.4%), 13 synchronous cancers (2.8%), and 29 metachronous cancers (6.3%). The most common types of second primary cancer were breast cancer (n=10), colorectal cancer (n=8), melanoma (n=6), and prostate cancer (n=5). The number of patients with a cancer history was lower than expected, although not significant (n=25 vs n=34.5). The diagnosis of synchronous cancers, mainly colorectal tumors, was higher than expected (n=13 vs n=6.1, P<0.05). Metachronous tumors occurred as frequent as expected (n=29 vs n=25.2, NS). In conclusion, our results are in contrast to previous studies and demonstrate that only the occurrence of synchronous second primary malignancies, mainly colorectal cancers, is increased in GEP-NET patients compared with the general population.

doi.org/10.1530/ERC-11-0315, hdl.handle.net/1765/66833
Endocrine - Related Cancer
Department of Medical Oncology

Kamp, K., Damhuis, R., Feelders, R., & de Herder, W. (2012). Occurrence of second primary malignancies in patients with neuroendocrine tumors of the digestive tract and pancreas. Endocrine - Related Cancer, 19(1), 95–99. doi:10.1530/ERC-11-0315