Genetics of neuroendocrine tumours, hereditary tumour syndromes

Neuroendocrine tumours occur in some hereditary tumour syndromes, and the molecular pathophysiological mechanisms involved in these are also important in their sporadic counterparts which representing the majority of neuroendocrine tumours. These syndromes include multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1 and tuberous sclerosis. All these follow an autosomal dominant inheritance. The primarily affected molecular pathways are Ras-MAPK signalling, hypoxia induced factor 1 alpha, and mTOR signalling that are also involved in sporadic tumours and may even represent potential molecular targets of therapy. In this review, the major characteristics of hereditary tumour syndromes, their molecular genetics and the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in sporadic tumours are discussed.