Khayyat M, Khayyat YM. Rectal neuroendocrine tumors: Update. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(1): 114818 [PMID: 41607754 DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i1.114818]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yasir M Khayyat, Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Umm AL-Qura University, AlAwali District, Makkah 8156-24381, Saudi Arabia. ymkhayyat@uqu.edu.sa
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jan 15, 2026; 18(1): 114818 Published online Jan 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i1.114818
Rectal neuroendocrine tumors: Update
Mohammed Khayyat, Yasir M Khayyat
Mohammed Khayyat, King Abdulaziz University College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah 214455, Saudi Arabia
Yasir M Khayyat, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Umm AL-Qura University, Makkah 8156-24381, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Khayyat M performed literature review, collection and Khayyat YM performed initial drafting and final review of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Both authors have nothing to disclose.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yasir M Khayyat, Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Umm AL-Qura University, AlAwali District, Makkah 8156-24381, Saudi Arabia. ymkhayyat@uqu.edu.sa
Received: September 29, 2025 Revised: October 11, 2025 Accepted: November 18, 2025 Published online: January 15, 2026 Processing time: 105 Days and 21 Hours
Abstract
Rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are increasingly detected and are the most common gastrointestinal NET sites. Often discovered incidentally during endoscopy, most are small, well differentiated, and have an excellent prognosis. Local resection is typically considered curative. Several guidelines, namely the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society guidelines 2023, National Comprehensive Cancer network 2025, and the Polish Network of Neuroendocrine Tumors (2017) emphasize the use of endoscopic and endoscopic ultrasound staging to select the appropriate therapy, ranging from resection to advanced techniques for larger or metastatic diseases, highlighting the need for an accurate initial assessment.
Core Tip: This manuscript highlights that, although rare, rectal neuroendocrine tumors exhibit distinct prognostic and therapeutic profiles. Key innovations include the identification of metabolic syndrome components as risk factors, the prognostic value of vascular patterns and biomarkers such as chromogranin A as well as the refined endoscopic resection techniques showing efficacy for small tumors. Importantly, tumor grade and size are critical for predicting metastasis and survival, and local excision is often sufficient for smaller lesions.
