Review Article
Carcinoid Disease
Abstract
We reviewed 28 cases of carcinoid tumor arising in the small intestine (11 cases), appendix (eight), rectum (three), and lung (six), which were diagnosed during a ten-year period ending in 1977. Components of the carcinoid syndrome occurred in only three patients, all of whom had hepatic metastases from tumors of the small bowel. Most of the small intestinal lesions, which usually were multicentric, metastasized. When metastases were absent or confined to regional lymph nodes, surgical excision alone provided satisfactory long-term therapy. When the disease involved the liver, the course until death was usually long but inexorable unless chemotherapy was used. During follow-up, which averaged more than six years, no carcinoid of the appendix, rectum, or lung recurred or metastasized after surgical extirpation. Other neoplasms, including adenocarcinomas of the rectum, appendix, prostate, and nasopharynx and acute granulocytic leukemia, appeared in six patients, which extends previous observations that patients with carcinoids have a neoplastic diathesis.This content is limited to qualifying members.
Existing members, please login first
If you have an existing account please login now to access this article or view purchase options.
Purchase only this article ($25)
Create a free account, then purchase this article to download or access it online for 24 hours.
Purchase an SMJ online subscription ($75)
Create a free account, then purchase a subscription to get complete access to all articles for a full year.
Purchase a membership plan (fees vary)
Premium members can access all articles plus recieve many more benefits. View all membership plans and benefit packages.