Symptom burden and outcomes among patients with early-onset versus average-onset neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Authors

Suriya Baskar, Rishi R Patel, Brandon Rose, Sawyer Bawek, Ashish Samaddar, Tao Xu, Michael O'Rorke, Deepak Vadehera, Timothy J Brown, Nicholas Hornstein, Udhayvir Singh Grewal

Published in

Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. Volume 34. Issue 7. Jun 25, 2026. Epub Jun 25, 2026.

Abstract

The incidence of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) is rising, particularly among younger patients, but data comparing early-onset (EO-NENs) and average-onset (AO-NENs) remain limited. Using the National Inpatient Sample (2016-2020), we compared patient characteristics, symptom burden, and outcomes between these groups.
Hospitalizations with NENs were identified using ICD-10 codes and stratified as EO (< 50 years) or AO (≥ 50 years). Demographics, comorbidities, symptom burden, interventions, and outcomes were compared using t-tests, chi-squared tests, and logistic regression analysis (p < 0.001 significant because of Bonferroni correction).
We identified 22,555 EO-NEN and 149,470 AO-NEN hospitalizations. EO-NEN patients were more often female (55% vs. 49%). Private insurance was more common in EO-NENs (59% vs. 28%, p < 0.001). EO-NENs were more frequently intestinal or thymic in origin. Symptom burden was higher in EO-NENs, including nausea/vomiting (8.6% vs. 4.7%), constipation (13.9% vs. 10.8%), abdominal pain (1.9% vs. 1.3%), and anxiety (18.3% vs. 14.0%; all p < 0.001). AO-NENs experienced more acute complications (heart failure, cardiac arrest). Multivariate analysis showed no significant difference in odds of inpatient mortality between both cohorts. EO-NEN hospitalizations had higher rates of treatment with chemotherapy (6.1% vs. 4.2%) and surgical resection.
EO-NENs represent a clinically distinct subset with greater symptom burden but fewer acute complications and similar mortality compared to AO-NENs. These findings highlight the need for age-tailored care pathways and further research into the unique biology driving EO-NENs.

PMID:
42348007
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Jun 2026.

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