Cervical neuroendocrine tumors. A literature review

Abstract

Neuroendocrine cervical tumors represent rare but very aggressive malignancies, accounting for almost 0.4% of all cervical neoplasia. Four types of cervical neuroendocrine tumors have been described: small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, typical and atypical carcinoid tumors. Due to their rarity standard therapeutic protocols are hard to be established. We present a literature review regarding pathogenesis, the role of surgery and the most important prognostic factors for this rare gynecological malignancy.