Long-term endoscopic and clinical follow-up of untreated type 1 gastric neuroendocrine tumours

Background and aims. Type I gastric neuroendocrine tumour surveillance and treatment are a matter of debate. Endoscopic, or surgical, resection and chronic somatostatin analog therapy have been proposed. Based on the favourable behaviour of this neoplasm, we performed an endoscopic and clinical follow-up in II patients affected by type I gastric neuroendocrine tumours,avoiding any specific treatment. Methods. Between 1994 and 2006, we prospectively recorded the data of II untreated patients with type I gastric neuroendocrine tumours who underwent an endoscopic and clinical follow-up. All the patients were also evaluated by means of an abdominal computed tomography scan, somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and blood tests. Results. During the follow-up (median 54 months, range 9-136), the endoscopic picture of 4 (36%) out of 11 patients changed in terms of increased number of lesions. In none of the cases were detected any lesions that exceeded 10 rum in diameter, and none of the patients demonstrated any evidence of local or distant metastases. Conclusions. Our data confirm the literature data of the indolent behaviour of type I gastric neuroendocrine tumours and suggest that a careful endoscopic follow-up, without any treatment, might represent a reasonable and safe option in selected patients.