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Carcinoid - Treatment
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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Treatment of carcinoid is surgical - bowel resection with radical removal of the tumor and metastases, if any. Carcinoids of the colon, more often of the rectum, can also be removed through an endoscope or transanally. Symptomatic therapy consists of prescribing blockers of a- and beta-adrenergic receptors (anaprilin, phentolamine, etc.); corticosteroids, chlorpromazine and antihistamines are less effective. When treating patients with an established diagnosis, monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as ipraside and other antidepressants should not be used before surgery, since they delay the conversion of serotonin to 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and, therefore, increase the serotonin content in the blood, thereby provoking and prolonging serotonin crises.
The prognosis with timely diagnosis and surgical removal of the tumor is relatively favorable, better than with other types of malignant tumors.
The tumor is characterized by slow growth, as a result of which the average life expectancy of patients even without treatment is 4-8 years or more. Death can occur from multiple metastases and cachexia, heart failure, intestinal obstruction.
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