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Is further workup and management required for an incidentally found small focus of neuroendocrine tumor of the endometrium?

In a patient who underwent laparoscopy for endometriosis and was found to have a 1mm focus of neuroendocrine tumor, would you recommend further surgery? Or imaging to evaluate for a non-gyn primary?
1 Answer
Mednet MemberInvited Expert
Medical Oncology · Mayo Clinic
Answered on

It depends on the grade and differentiation. Primary endometrial tumors are very rare and tend to be high grade and poorly differentiated. A lower grade tumor, especially an implant on the peritoneal surface, is much more likely to be a metastasis, most likely from a GI primary. A sample obtained at a laparoscopy suggests there was an implant on the peritoneal surface and as such, suggests this being a metastasis. I would discuss with the surgeon who performed the laparoscopy what he actually found, if it was typical for endometriosis and how widespread the abnormalities were within the peritoneal cavity.

I would start by asking the pathologists to comment on the grade (using Ki67 proliferative index) and mitotic count. If grade 1 or 2, I wo...

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