Risk Factors for Neuroendocrine Tumors of the GI Tract
A risk factor is something about you that increases your chance of getting a disease or having a certain health condition. Some risk factors for neuroendocrine tumors of the GI tract you cannot change, but some you can. Changing the risk factors that you have control over will help you live a longer, healthier life.
Risk factors do not mean that you will get the disease. Many people who have these risk factors do not develop the disease and many who develop the disease did not have any of these risk factors.
The risk factors for NETs are:
- Genetic syndromes – People with certain inherited conditions are at greater risk of developing neuroendocrine tumors of the GI tract:
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
- Neurofibromatosis type 1
- Von Hippel Lindau disease
- Race/ethnicity – Carcinoid tumors are more common in African Americans than in whites.
- Gender – Carcinoid tumors are more common in women than in men.