Carcinoid tumor: symptoms, causes and treatment

Definition of a carcinoid tumor

What is a carcinoid tumor?

Carcinoid tumors are tumors that are cancerous but develop slowly. That means, a person may have this tumor for years and never know it. After becoming cancerous and spreading, then sufferers begin to feel the symptoms it causes.

When the cancer has spread, the condition will be known as carcinoid syndrome and this is one of its complications.

In addition, tumor cells can also secrete hormones and chemicals that can cause carcinoid heart disease (thickening of the lining of the chambers, valves, and vessels of the heart) and Cushing's syndrome (a condition where the body overproduces the hormone cortisol).

Carcinoid tumors usually appear in the small intestine, anus, appendix, large intestine, lungs, pancreas, and liver.

Based on the John Hopkins Medicine website, cancerous tumors are divided into several types according to how fast they spread, such as:

• Slow-growing tumors. The tumor is small, less than 1 inch (2.5 cm), does not spread and does not grow rapidly to other areas.
• Faster-growing tumors. The tumor grows bigger and spreads faster.
• Hormone-secreting tumors. The tumor produces the hormone serotonin so that the levels are excessive.

How common is this disease?

Carcinoid tumor is a type of tumor that is quite rare. Usually, it is diagnosed in people aged 55-65 years because of their slow growth.

Signs & symptoms of carcinoid tumor

In some cases, tumors that can develop into cancer do not cause any signs or symptoms. If they do occur, the signs and symptoms are usually vague and depend on the location of the tumor.

If the carcinoid tumor is in the lungs, the symptoms it causes are:

• Chest pain.
• Hard to breathe.
• Redness or warmth on the face and neck (redness of the skin).
• Weight gain, especially around the middle and upper back.
• Pink or purple marks on the skin that look like stretch marks.

While carcinoid tumors in the digestive tract will cause symptoms, such as:

• Stomach ache.
• Diarrhea.
• Nausea, vomiting and inability to pass stool due to intestinal obstruction (intestinal obstruction).
• Bleeding and pain in the rectum.
• Redness or warmth on the face and neck (redness of the skin).

When to see a doctor?

If you experience the signs of cancer mentioned above, see a doctor immediately. Early treatment gives the patient a better cure rate.

Causes of carcinoid tumors

The exact cause of carcinoid tumors is not known. However, in general the cause of cancer is a DNA mutation. Mutations cause changes to DNA, which contains a set of instructions for cells to grow and divide.

The mutation makes these orders damaged and cells become abnormal. Cells will grow and divide without control, accumulate, and eventually form a tumor. Tumors that continue to grow and spread will later become cancer.

The cells that cause these tumors are neuroendocrine cells in various organs of the body. These cells are responsible for running nerve cells and endocrine cells to produce hormones, such as cortisol, histamine, insulin and serotonin.

Risk factors for carcinoid tumors

Although the cause is not known with certainty, tumors on these neuroendocrine cells have a high risk of occurring in people with the following factors.

Family history

If one of your family has multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type 1, you have a very high risk of developing this tumor. Several studies have estimated that an inherited mutation of the MEN1 gene is responsible for about 10% of cases of tumors in neuroendocrine cells.

Female gender

In most cases, tumors on neuroendocrine cells are more common in women than men.

Increasing age

These tumors, which can develop into cancer slowly, generally occur in people aged 55 to 65 years, rather than children and adolescents.

Diagnosis & treatment of carcinoid tumors

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

Most of these tumors are found during tests or procedures for other reasons, such as surgery on the stomach. Because the symptoms of carcinoid syndrome are rarely the same as those of other conditions, the doctor will usually only suspect carcinoid syndrome if he or she cannot find any other reason for the symptoms. Some of the tests your doctor may perform to confirm a diagnosis of carcinoid syndrome are:

• Urine test.
• Blood test.
• CT and MRI scans of the abdomen and chest.
• Echocardiogram or cardiac echo.

What are the treatment options for carcinoid syndrome?

Some of the treatment options your doctor may suggest to help treat carcinoid syndrome are:

• The doctor will remove or limit the spread of the carcinoid tumor with surgery.
• If surgery can't get rid of the tumor that has spread, medications may be able to shrink the tumor and control the symptoms. These drugs include ocreotide and interferon alfa.
• Liver artery embolization and heating or freezing of tumor cells may also be a treatment option in some patients if the tumor has spread to the liver.

Home treatment of carcinoid tumors

In addition to undergoing treatment at the hospital, home care such as a healthy lifestyle for cancer patients also needs to be done. This includes:

• Follow a cancer diet directed by your doctor or nutritionist.
• Be active and maintain an ideal body weight.
• Get enough rest and be able to control stress.
• Quit smoking and drinking alcohol.

Prevention of carcinoid tumors

Until now, there is no definite way to prevent cancer from this tumor. You need further consultation with your doctor about precautions you can take, if you are at risk of experiencing it in the future.