ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1599022
Comparison of Clinicopathological Characteristics and Survival Outcomes between Solitary and Multiple Rectal Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Propensity Score-Matched Study
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Multiple rectal neuroendocrine tumors (RNETs) are rare rectal malignancies, and there is no consensus on their characteristics and treatments. This study aimed to explore the heterogeneity of key morphological parameters in multiple RNETs and to compare the clinicopathologic characteristics between multiple and solitary RNETs. Methods: A total of 15 patients with multiple RNETs and 89 patients with single RNETs treated between 2013 and 2024 were retrospectively analyzed using propensity match analysis to determine their clinicopathologic characteristics. WHO grade, expression of basal diagnostic markers (synaptophysin/chromogranin A/CD56), and SSTR2 were analyzed. Disease-free survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Multifocal RNETs were characterized by homogeneous WHO grading (93.3%) and concordant SSTR2 expression. The solitary RNETs group had a significantly higher SSTR2 positive rate (P < 0.05), while chromogranin A positive rate was significantly lower than multiple RNETs (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Multiple RNETs demonstrate remarkable homogeneity in core diagnostic parameters. However, compared to solitary RNETs, multifocal presentations exhibit a significantly higher propensity for metastasis/recurrence, warranting intensified therapeutic protocols and enhanced clinicopathological surveillance paradigms.
Keywords: multiple, Rectal neuroendocrine tumor, Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection, Clinicopathological characteristics, Survival
Received: 24 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zheng, Wang, Guo, Wang, Ji and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jun Liu, Department of Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.