Clinical Analysis of Carcinoid Tumors

Lee, Dong Ho; Chin, Hyung Min; Kim, Jun Gi; Lee, Yun Bok; Park, Woo Bae; Chun, Chung Soo

Abstract

We reviewed 36 patients with carcinoid tumors, which had been diagnosed at the St. Mary's hospital, Kangnam St. Mary's hospital and St. Vincent's hospital affiliated with Catholic Medical Center during 18 years from July 1978 to June 1996. The peak age group was the third decade (25%), and the sex ratio of males to females was 1.57 : 1 with an age range of 13 to 73 years. The most common location of the tumors was the bronchus, 11 cases; next were the rectum, 9 cases, and the appendix, 5 cases. These were followed by the stomach, the duodenum, the ovaries, the gallbladder, the thymus, the sigmoid colon, and the ascending colon. One of cases had such widespread metastases that its primary site of origin could not be determined. According to the embryological classification, the foregut was the most common site, 15 cases; next were the hindgut, 10 cases, and the midgut, 7 cases. The malignant potential is determined by the size, the histological feature of the tumor, and the status of the regional lymph nodes. Among these, the size of the tumor was the most important; the extent of the resection was usually determined by the size of the tumors.There were no cases of classic carcinoid syndrome, but two cases of rectal and duodenal carcinoid tumors had symptoms similar to those of the carcinoid syndrome. We experienced three synchronous carcinomas and one metachronous carcinoma of different sites on the carcinoid tumors.