Predictive factors of postoperative survival among patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumor

Pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma (NET) represents about 20% of all lung cancers. Pulmonary NET is composes of typical carcinoids (TCs) and atypical carcinoids (ACs), that are regarded as low to intermediate malignant tumors, and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) and small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), that constitute the high-grade carcinoma (1). A low frequency of pulmonary NET poses challenges in understanding the features of molecular aberrations, treatment and prognosis, especially in resected cases, as the operation indication for LCNEC and SCLC is rare. Reportedly, the advanced nodal status and simultaneous expression of CD56 and chromogranin-A were significantly associated with poorer outcome (2). Thus, the additional investigation of the function of these neuroendocrine markers on the causes of their specific differentiation, behavior and treatment options is essential