Debulking carcinoid – pro
Surgery is the only potentially curative treatment for patients with carcinoid tumors. Patients with localized disease even with lymph node metastases can be resected for potential cure. It is no known how to best optimally follow competely resected non-metastatic tumors. these patients. NCCN says: “Conaiser abdominopelvic CT or MRI 3-12 months post resection: Otherswise followup is clinical and:”consider markers”.
Patients with distant metastatic disease have been reported to be cured by resection of all tumor. However, long-term follow-up of these individuals suggests that these patients probably will recur. Resection of the tumour can be curative. In widely metastatic disease, debulking and bypassing procedures can facilitate medical treatment. Debulking, laser treatment of metastases, radio-frequency ablation and embolization of liver metastases (either plain or combined with cytotoxic agents), liver resection, and, more recently, liver transplant (in selected patients) are possible options.
J. Maroun, MD,* W. Kocha, MD,† L. Kvols, MD,‡ G. Bjarnason, MD,§ E. Chen, MD,|| C. Germond, MD,# S. Hanna, MD,** P. Poitras, MD,†† D. Rayson, MD,‡‡ R. Reid, MD,§§ J. Rivera, MD,|||| A. Roy, MD,†† A. Shah, MD,## L. Sideris, MD,|| L. Siu, MD,*** and R. Wong, MDGuidelines for the diagnosis and management of carcinoid tumours. Part 1: The gastrointestinal tract. A statement from a Canadian National Carcinoid Expert Group Curr Oncol. 2006 April; 13(2): 67–76.