The purpose of a recent article published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine was to distinguish different causes of chronic diarrhea in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), with the aim to identify the most appropriate therapeutic approach.

It was noted that the underlying causes of diarrhea can be multifactorial, including not only diarrhea – related to specific hormonal hypersecretory syndromes, but also secondary diarrhea due to the following etiologies – extensive surgery causing pancreatic exocrine insufficiency or short bowel syndrome; treatment with somatostatin analogs or other antineoplastic agents; and bile acid malabsorption. If diarrhea is not controlled with initial standardized treatment, a proper differential diagnosis is necessary to strategize the specific management. 

In inference, it was stated that NETs should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients suffering from chronic diarrhea. In fact, several different etiologies must be considered for diarrhea occurrence in NET patients. Moreover, a prompt diagnosis of the specific cause of diarrhea is necessary to guide treatment.

Source: J. Clin. Med. 2020, 9, 2468;