Colorectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) originate from neuroendocrine cells in the intestinal tract, and represent a small area within oncology, but one which has provided increasing new data during the past years. Although the World Health Organization has determined clinical and histological features to predict prognosis for such tumors, they may not be valid on an individual basis. We aim to give an overview of the recent findings with regard to pathology, molecular genetics and diagnosis of NETs.