What is staging for pancreatic NETs?

Hello, I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm glad they were able to remove the tumor. Another thing, I'm not a doctor; what I say below is knowledge I learned from reading a lot.

Regarding your question about your stage, the oncologist who treated you should tell you, But I'll give you an idea of more or less how the TNE is statisticated.

NETs are staged by grade, which directly depends on the Ki67 count. Grade 1 is well-differentiated (slow-growing); Grade 2 is well-differentiated (intermediate-growing); Grade 3 is well-differentiated (more aggressive than the other two); and finally, Grade 3 is poorly differentiated, called carcinoma.

Then, they are also staged by and size extension of primary tumor, lymph nodes, and metastases found.

The acronyms would be T (tumor), N (lymph nodes), and M (distant metastasis).

For example, T1, N0, M0 would be a tumor smaller than 2 cm, with no affected lymph nodes or metastases.

If I'm wrong, please correct me. Typically, all of this information should appear on the biopsy report.

I hope it is useful to you. Regards

Oh thank you! Yes I know some of what you talked about. But the stage it was never told to me nor did I ask. That will be on my list to ask next. My Ki67 score is 2.44% (76 out of 3121 cells it had spread to in one out of 9 lymph nodes removed). My tumour was 1.6cm. So not sure how that affects my staging and treatment plan. The next appt is with an oncology endocrinologist so I will be asking questions then. Thanks again so much.

I wish you the best of luck with your endocrinologist. We look forward to hearing encouraging news from you. I hope you'll share it here with us if You want.

And by the way, where are you from? A big hug and good luck on this new path you're about to take.

Morning! Thanks! I am also trying to get into a Neuroendocrine Tumour Clinic too to compare treatment suggestions but not sure it'll be soon.
I am Canadian(Ontario) and our healthcare is vastly different from the USA, so I'm fascinated to see how its run and the options of everyone there Some stories are extremely shocking to me. We all have the same opportunities here regardless of anything.

I'm from Argentina not american 🙂

Fascinating and sooooo educational to see how healthcare is in other countries! All the best!!

The staging system most often used for pNETs is the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. This is used by Mayo Clinic and in cancer centers in Canada too.

Here is information from the Canadian Cancer Society
- Stages of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (pNETs) https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/neuroendocrine/staging/pancreatic-tumours

And the American Cancer Society
- Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor (pNET) Stages https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/pancreatic-neuroendocrine-tumor/detection-diagnosis-staging/net-staging.html

@midford, did you learn more about the stage of the pNET you're dealing with?

Thanks so much! I will look this up. I assumed from what I've read I was stage 1 but when it spread to one lymph it seemed I jumped up to stage 3. So hopefully this will set me straight. Thanks again!