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Typical Carcinoid Versus Atypical Carcinoid

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Last Modified: January 7, 2013

Question

What is typical versus atypical carcinoid- what is the difference and are they treated differently?

Answer

Nevena Damjanov, MD, Medical Oncologist at Penn Medicine responds.

Typical carcinoid has a "typical" appearance when the pathologist looks at it under the microscope. Clinically, the person with typical carcinoid is likely to have the carcinoid syndrome with flushing and diarrhea. When all of these are not present, it may be labeled as an "atypical carcinoid". The treatment may be the same.

This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series. View the entire transcript from the Focus on Neuroendocrine Tumors Webchat.