Clinical aspects of carcinoid tumours

Carcinoid tumours are the most commonly occurring gut endocrine tumours; th ey are characterized by relatively slow rate of growth, local spread and di stant metastases as compared with other malignant neoplasms. The carcinod s yndrome occurs in less than 10% of patients with carcinoid tumours when liv er metastases are present. The combination of symptoms, humoral markers and imaging techniques provide an optimal means for the identification of carc inoid tumours and their metastases.