Table 2.
A comparison of clinical and pathologic characteristics between well and poorly differentiated neuroendocrine neoplasms
| G2 | WD-G3 | G2 vs WD-G3 P value |
WD (G2 and G3) |
NEC | WD vs NEC P value |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases No.1 | 19 | 32 | 51 | 14 | ||
| Female No. (%) | 10 (53) | 19 (59) | .7 | 29 (56) | 9 (5) | .8 |
| Age of diagnosis median years ( range) | 56 (28–73) | 63 (37–82) | .09 | 61 (28–82) | 63 (26–74) | .8 |
| AJCC 7th edition stage at presentation | ||||||
| I | 1 (5) | 1 (3) | .9 | 2 (4) | 0 (0) | .8 |
| II | 1 (5) | 3 (9) | 4 (8) | 0 (0) | ||
| III | 1 (5) | 1 (3) | 2 (4) | 1 (7) | ||
| IV | 12 (63) | 23 (81) | 35 (69) | 13 (93) | ||
| Anatomic site for FNA specimen No. (%) | ||||||
| Pancreas No. | 2 (11) | 2 (6) | .3 | 4 (8) | 2 (14) | .04 |
| Liver No. | 17 (89) | 30 (94) | 47 (92) | 11 (78) | ||
| Other No. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (7) | ||
| Primary tumor was previously resected No. (%) | 5 (26) | 10 (31) | .8 | 15 (33) | 2 (13) | .3 |
| FNA and core biopsy were obtained concurrently No. (%) | 16 (84) | 26 (84) | .9 | 42 (84) | 10 (71) | .5 |
| Biopsy indication for FNA Initial diagnosis | 9 (47) | 7 (21) | .06 | 16 (31) | 12 (86) | <.001 |
| No. (%) | ||||||
| Evaluation of disease progression No. (%) | 10 (53) | 25 (78) | 35 (69) | 2 (14) | ||
| Therapy prior to FNA No. (%) | ||||||
| None | 11 (58) | 17 (53) | .7 | 28 (55) | 12 (86) | .06 |
| Only hormone | 4 (21) | 5 (16) | .4 | 9 (18) | 0 | .2 |
| Alkylating agent | 4 (21) | 8 (26) | .7 | 12 (24) | 0 | .06 |
| Cytotoxic chemotherapy | 4 (21) | 9 (29) | .7 | 13 (26) | 2 (13) | .5 |
| Targeted agent | 2 (11) | 5 (16) | .7 | 8 (16) | 0 | .2 |
| Platinum based | 2 (11) | 5 (16) | .7 | 7 (14) | 2 (13) | .6 |
1
3 patients had two interval biopsies.
Abbreviations: FNA=fine needle aspiration, WD= well differentiated, NEC=neuroendocrine carcinoma, vs= versus, No. = number, G2=grade 2, G3=grade 3