Objective: To estimate incidence and prevalence of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (GI NETs) in U.S. commercially insured patients.
Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study using 2009 to 2014 data from MarketScan and PharMetrics commercial claims databases. Patients were 18 to 64 years old, and had 1 inpatient or 2 outpatient claims with GI NET, identified by International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Incidence was calculated as number of patients with NET who were disease-free for 2 years prior, divided by number of enrollees and reported as per million person-years (PMPY). Prevalence was calculated as the number of GI NET patients divided by the number of enrollees per year.
Results: The annual number of patients with GI NET ranged from 2,014 to 3,413 in MarketScan and 1,436 to 2,336 in PharMetrics. Incidence increased from 2011 to 2014: 67.0 to 79.1 PMPY in MarketScan and 47.4 to 58.2 PMPY in PharMetrics. Incidence increased by 24.3% in females and 10.7% in males in MarketScan, and by 17.6% in females and 29.3% in males in PharMetrics. Incidence increased with age and was highest in the 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 age groups. Prevalence increased from 77.9 to 131.2 per million per year (MarketScan) and 50.8 to 108.9 (PharMetrics) from 2009 to 2014. Prevalence was generally higher in females than males and highest in 55 to 64 year olds. These increases may be due to better diagnostics, increased awareness of NET among clinicians and pathologists, and/or actual increase in disease.
Conclusion: Clinicians may see GI NET with increasing frequency and should become more familiar with its presentation and treatment.
Abbreviations: GI = gastrointestinal; ICD-9-CM = International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification; NET = neuroendocrine tumor; PMPY = per million person-years; SEER = Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results.