Endocrine tumors of the ileum: factors correlated with survival.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the most important factors correlated with survival in patients with endocrine tumors of the ileum, both at the time of diagnosis and during the follow-up period.


METHODS
Fifty-nine patients with ileal endocrine tumors diagnosed in our institution between 1990 and 2004 were studied.


RESULTS
The study included 36 men (61%) and 23 women (39%). The median age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 61.4 (range 18-83) years. The median follow-up period was 71.9 (range 5-287) months. Forty patients (67.8%) were still alive at the end of the study; the median survival time was 172 months, and the 5-year survival rate was 78.9%. By univariate analysis, the survival rate was significantly related to female sex (p = 0.024) and flushing alone (p = 0.028) and associated with diarrhea at diagnosis (p = 0.015), weight loss at diagnosis (p = 0.038), Ki-67 level (p = 0.025), stage of disease at diagnosis (p = 0.012), presence of liver metastases at follow-up (p = 0.005), presence of diffuse metastases at diagnosis (p = 0.005) and at follow-up (p = 0.007), and type of surgical approach (overall: p = 0.018; not operated vs. radical surgery: p = 0.008; not operated vs. palliative surgery: p = 0.045). Using multivariate analysis, only female gender (p = 0.012) and the presence of liver metastases at follow-up (p = 0.004) were significantly related to survival.


CONCLUSIONS
In the present study, female gender and the appearance of liver metastases at follow-up seem to be the main conditions which determine the poor prognosis of patients with ileal endocrine tumors.
Tomassetti
Paola
P
Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Gastroenterologia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italia. paola.tomassetti@unibo.it
Campana
Davide
D
Piscitelli
Lydia
L
Casadei
Riccardo
R
Nori
Francesca
F
Brocchi
Emilio
E
Santini
Donatella
D
Pezzilli
Raffaele
R
Corinaldesi
Roberto
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D004701:Endocrine Gland Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005483:Flushing / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007078:Ileal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis