Medical treatment of neuroendocrine tumors

Abstract

The management of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors takes into consideration the clinical stage of the disease, any symptoms from disease bulk or hormone overproduction, and the clinical pace of the disease. Options for therapy include observation, octreotide to reduce hormonal secretion, or other more toxic therapies such as interferon-α, chemotherapy, or molecularly targeted therapies under investigation. Surgery or embolic therapy to branches of the hepatic artery may also assist in the management of these patients. © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.