Are all carcinoid tumors cancerous or can some be benign. If the tumor is not metastatic at the time of removal and is located in the rectum, what is the 5 year survival rate?
The word benign is a misnomer. Benign means non-cancerous. All carcinoid cancers have the potential to spread/produce metastases. A better word for benign would be indolent (=slow, inactive, sluggish) Some are indolent but this cannot always be determined by looking at the tumor cells under the microscope. The 5 year survival rate of rectal carcinoid depends on the probability of their having metastasized at the time of removal. This in turn is related to the tumors size. If less than 1-cm diameter, fewer than 5% will have metastasized and if more than 2 cm in diameter, 75% will have metastasized. The odds for a tumor sized 1-2 cm are in the 40-45% range. If the tumor has not spread, the 5-year survival rate is 81%. If it has spread locally, 47% will survive 5 years and if distant metastases have occurred, only 18% will survive 5 years.(without treatment) However, these figures may improve a bit with some of the newer therapies available or becoming available. Two years ago I had a car
