Multidisciplinary Management of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Beyond Centers of Excellence: Retrospective Real-World Data from a Referral Center in Eastern Europe
6 affiliations
- 1Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
- 2Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology-Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- 3Department of Oncology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania
- 4Department of General Surgery, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania
- 5Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
- 6Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) require multidisciplinary management, yet access to advanced imaging and therapies is uneven across Europe. We aimed to describe real-world management of NENs in an Eastern Europe referral center. Methods: This retrospective single-center study included 192 NEN patients treated between 2011 and 2026 at a national referral center in Romania. Results: Most tumors were well-differentiated (88%), pancreatic primary (59.9%), and non-functioning (77.1%); 51.0% were metastatic at diagnosis. Overall, 30.7% (n = 59) of patients underwent somatostatin receptor imaging, mainly with locally available 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy (n = 56). Among therapeutic modalities, 68.2% of patients underwent conventional systemic therapy and 69.3% had surgery (R0 resection was achieved in 98.9% of curative-intent surgeries; recurrence rate 40%). Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) was performed in 14.6% (19/130) of metastatic NENs and liver-directed therapy (LDT) in 13.6% (16/118) of NENs with liver metastases. Median time to treatment was 78 days for somatostatin analogs, 29 days for chemotherapy in neuroendocrine carcinoma, 30 days for surgery, 62.5 days for LDT, and 144 days for PRRT. Conclusions: This is one of the few reports on real-world management of NENs in an Eastern European tertiary care referral center, which highlights the available multidisciplinary care but also the challenges in diagnostics and therapeutic access for patients with NEN.
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BibTeX
@article{sandra2026multidisciplinary,
title = {{Multidisciplinary Management of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Beyond Centers of Excellence: Retrospective Real-World Data from a Referral Center in Eastern Europe}},
author = {Irina Sandra and Elena Gabriela Chiorean and Irina Mihaela Cazacu-Croitoru and Vlad Mihai Croitoru and Simona Olimpia Dima and Adrian Goldiș and Carmen Monica Preda and Rucsandra-Ilinca Diculescu and Adina Emilia Croitoru and Mircea Mihai Diculescu},
journal = {Journal of clinical medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/jcm15197762},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13666263},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Multidisciplinary Management of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Beyond Centers of Excellence: Retrospective Real-World Data from a Referral Center in Eastern Europe
AU - Irina Sandra
AU - Elena Gabriela Chiorean
AU - Irina Mihaela Cazacu-Croitoru
AU - Vlad Mihai Croitoru
AU - Simona Olimpia Dima
AU - Adrian Goldiș
AU - Carmen Monica Preda
AU - Rucsandra-Ilinca Diculescu
AU - Adina Emilia Croitoru
AU - Mircea Mihai Diculescu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Journal of clinical medicine
DO - 10.3390/jcm15197762
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13666263
AB - Background and Objectives: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) require multidisciplinary management, yet access to advanced imaging and therapies is uneven across Europe. We aimed to describe real-world management of NENs in an Eastern Europe referral center. Methods: This retrospective single-center study included 192 NEN patients treated between 2011 and 2026 at a national referral center in Romania. Results: Most tumors were well-differentiated (88%), pancreatic primary (59.9%), and non-functioning (77.1%); 51.0% were metastatic at diagnosis. Overall, 30.7% (n = 59) of patients underwent somatostatin receptor imaging, mainly with locally available 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy (n = 56). Among therapeutic modalities, 68.2% of patients underwent conventional systemic therapy and 69.3% had surgery (R0 resection was achieved in 98.9% of curative-intent surgeries; recurrence rate 40%). Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) was performed in 14.6% (19/130) of metastatic NENs and liver-directed therapy (LDT) in 13.6% (16/118) of NENs with liver metastases. Median time to treatment was 78 days for somatostatin analogs, 29 days for chemotherapy in neuroendocrine carcinoma, 30 days for surgery, 62.5 days for LDT, and 144 days for PRRT. Conclusions: This is one of the few reports on real-world management of NENs in an Eastern European tertiary care referral center, which highlights the available multidisciplinary care but also the challenges in diagnostics and therapeutic access for patients with NEN.
SN - 2077-0383
ER -