Scintigraphic Evaluation of Neuroendocrine Tumors

Neuroendocrine tumors arise from cells that originate in the neural crest. Although these cells have a common embryological origin, they are distributed to various sites and organ systems throughout the body, where they can give rise to a variety of tumor types that are related by their common embryological origin. These cells share a characteristic feature of the ability to produce peptide hormones and the ability to synthesize amines from certain precursors, which gave rise to the concept known as Amine Precursor Uptake and Decarboxylation.[1] These cells were referred to as APUD cells. Collectively, the tumors that arose from these cells were classified by Pearse as APUDomas, currently more commonly referred to as neuroendocrine tumors.