Drug InfoNet Doctors' Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Doctors' Answers to "Frequently Asked Questions" - Carcinoid Syndrome

These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.

[posted 10/21/1999]
Question: My 15.8 year old son just had an appendectomy. The pathology results found a .9cm carcinoid. What is the follow-up therapies that are needed? Should we have the slides rechecked. He had a CAT scan prior to the appendectomy, should it be rescanned for other carcinoids?

Answer: Probably the CT is enough. A liver spleen scan to look for spread to the liver, a 24 hour collection for 5-HIAA should be done to ensure there is no further elevation(up if there are further carcinoids). But, usually surgery would cure this. A yearly ct would be recommended for the first few years by some.

Carcinoid Syndrome: Treatment [posted 10/1/98]
Question: My father was told to suffer carcinoid syndrome. He lives in Colombia (South America) and Doctors tried a treatment that was not effective. They now want to try chemotherapy. They do not want to operate because they say the tumor is in the stomach and it is very risky. I would like to know if there is in USA another treatment for this disease, and which hospital specializes on it?

Answer:Carcinoid is very difficult to treat and responds poorly to any treatment. The best physicians to treat this problem are currently at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

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