What is the neuroendocrine system?

The neuroendocrine (NOOR-oh-EN-doh-krin) system is made up of cells found throughout the body that release hormones into the blood in response to signals from the nervous system. These cells get their name because they play a role in both the nervous system and the endocrine system.
 

What does GEP-NET mean?

GEP stands for gastroenteropancreatic (GAS-troh-EN-teh-roh-PAN-kree-A-tik). It’s a medical term describing certain parts of the body as a group, including the stomach, small intestine, colon, rectum, appendix, and pancreas. Although not as common, GEP-NET is a term you may hear used as a catch-all to describe both gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (GI NETs) and pancreatic NETs (pNETs).

Although NETs can form in other parts of the body, they often originate from neuroendocrine cells in the GI tract and the pancreas.

NETs are often slow-growing tumors that develop hormone-making cells in the body.

“Carcinoid tumor” and “carcinoid cancer” are still commonly used but somewhat dated terms to describe what are now generally called NETs. Although often simply called a NET today, the syndrome caused by many NETs is still referred to as carcinoid syndrome.