EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THE NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS OF GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT IN BRAZIL: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY WITH HOSPITAL-BASED CANCER REGISTRIES

Introduction: Epidemiological data of neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract (NETGI) in Brazil are poorly understood. The present study aims to describe the profile of NETGI in Brazil using the data available from the Hospital-based Cancer Registries (HCR). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with data from HCR of Brazil. The HCR Integrator was used to extract the data. The period evaluated was from 2006-2016 and all Brazilian states were included in the analysis. NETGIs were selected using the following histology codes from the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O): large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (8013/3); neuroendocrine carcinoma NOS (8246/3); adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation (8574/3); small cell carcinomas (8002/3 and 8040/3 to 8045/3); carcinoid tumors (8240/3 to 8249/3); islet cell carcinoma (8150/3); insulinoma (8151/3); glucagonoma (8152/3); gastrinoma (8153/3); mixed exocrine adenocarcinoma (8154/3); VIPoma (8155/3); somatostatinoma (8156/3) and enteroglucagonoma (8157/3). In addition, only topographies of the gastrointestinal tract were considered according to the International Code of Diseases (ICD-10 C15.0 to C21.9). The variables gender, age, place of birth, state of residence, treatment unit status, date of diagnosis, date of first visit, date of first treatment, histology and location of primary tumor were analyzed. Results: A total of 3916 new NETGI cases were recorded between 20062016. The mean age at diagnosis was 57 years (2-101 years). Females were the most prevalent (52%), with the highest concentration of new cases in the age range between 5060 years with 25.6% of cases. The cases from the states of São Paulo (SP) (28.7%), Minas Gerais (MG) (14.1%) and Bahia (8.5%) were the most prevalent. However, the states of SP (48.3%), MG (10.1%) and Rio Grande do Sul (7.8%) presented a higher treatment volume of NETGI. The most common topographies were pancreas (24.7%), stomach (22.1%), small intestine (17.0%), colon (15.3%) and rectum (11.2%). As the neuroendocrine carcinoma (53.7%), carcinoid tumor (26.5%), small cell carcinoma (9.3%) were the most frequent histologies. Conclusion: In ten years, 3916 cases of NETGI were registered. Neuroendocrine carcinoma histology and pancreatic topography were the most prevalent. Despite the limitations of the study, this is one of the first studies that describes the epidemiology of NETGI in Brazil using the validated national database.