Impact of Mesenteric Mass in Patients with Midgut Neuroendocrine Tumors

Objectives In this study, we used the institutional pathological and clinical databases from The Mount Sinai Hospital to investigate the impact of mesenteric mass on clinical and staging features in small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors. Methods Demographic, clinical, and staging data were collected. Tumor-node-metastasis stage was assigned according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition staging manual. We used a χ²-square test to evaluate the association between mesenteric mass and presenting symptoms, as well as the association between mesenteric mass and tumor characteristics, type of surgical resection, and use of somatostatin analogues. Results Presence of mesenteric mass was strongly associated with highly symptomatic clinical presentation (P < 0.0001). Patients with a mesenteric mass were more likely to have more advanced tumor status (T3 and T4; P = 0.005). The presence of a mesenteric mass was also more strongly associated with metastatic disease (P = 0.002). Patients with a mesenteric mass were more likely to undergo extensive surgical resection (P < 0.0001) and be treated with somatostatin analogues (P < 0.003). Conclusions The data confirm our clinical observations that mesenteric involvement represents more extensive disease and is also associated with more aggressive treatment.