Carcinoid Syndrome – A combination of Symptoms

Carcinoid syndrome is a combination of symptom which can occur with a kind of cancer known as carcinoid. It is a type of cancer of the neuroendocrine system, the system which produces the hormones. The carcinoid tumours tend to glow gradually and are common in the gut areas, like the appendix, small intestine orlarge bowel.

They also tend to grow in the lung, pancreas, kidney, stomach, testicles or theovaries. Carcinoid syndrome occurs when a carcinoid tumour especially the one that has spread to the liver releases hormones in the bloodstream. The tumour tends to produce too much of serotonin hormone together with other chemicals which widens the blood vessels and may cause a wide range of symptoms.

Growth very Slow

Though the prognosis for carcinoid is good, like most cancers it also depends on the size of the tumour, depending on the area of the body it occurs, the possibility of it spreading to other areas and the general health and age of the person.

It can at time be cured with a surgery and even if the tumour is not completely eliminated, it may not cause a problem since its growth is very slow. In the initial stage of a carcinoid tumour, one may not have any symptoms if the tumour is in the digestive system since any hormones produced would be destroyed by the liver and if symptoms do occur, it could be general and could be mistaken for signs of other ailments. Symptoms could be the outcome of the tumour or from hormones it may release in the bloodstream.

Symptoms of Carcinoid tumour

A person suffering from lung carcinoid tumour may experience wheezing, cough wherein they may cough up blood, breathlessness, tiredness, or chest pain. A person with stomach carcinoid may show signs ofweight loss, pain, tiredness and a feeling of weakness. A bowel carcinoid tumour may cause bleeding from the bottom, block bowel- constipation or feeling of sickness and belly pain.

Appendix carcinoid tumour does not cause any symptoms and is only discovered at the time of removal of the appendix or for any other reason. The symptoms of carcinoid syndrome are diarrhoea, belly pain with loss of appetite, flushing of the skin, fast heart rate, shortness of breath and wheezing. These symptoms may tend to show up unexpectedly since the hormones may be produced by the tumour at any point of time.

Rare Family Syndrome 

It is yet unknown why carcinoid tumours occurs, but it is presumed that in most cases they develop by chance though in some cases it may run in the families. As per Cancer Research UK, these tumours tend to be common in people with rare family syndrome known as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, children of parents with carcinoid tumour or those affected sibling, with squamous cell skin cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or cancer of the brain, breast, liver, bladder or kidney, the womb and people with condition known as neurofibromatosis.

If the tumour is detected in its early stage in the digestive system or lung, there is a possibility of completely removing it and curing the carcinoid syndrome altogether or else the surgeons can remove as much of the tumour as possible which is known as debulking. If it is not possible to remove the tumour and if it does not tend to grown or causes any symptoms, no treatment would be necessary though careful monitoring would be needed.

Treatment of Injection of Drugs

If the tumour does causes some symptoms, treatments like injections of drugs are given to the person to slow down the growth of tumour cells, chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer cells and shrink the tumour, radiotherapy to kill some of the cancer cells, a procedure to stall the blood supply to the carcinoid tumour (this is only for tumours in the liver) which is known as hepatic artery embolization and another procedure which is used as a heated probe to kill cancer cells in the case of tumours in the liver, called radiofrequency ablation. Injections are also given for symptoms of carcinoid syndrome which can slow down the growth of hormones released by the tumour with drugs to widen the airways, to relieve breathlessness and wheezing as well as medication for anti-diarrhoea.

Surgical Removal of Tumour

If the entire tumour can surgically be removed, it may cure the cancer and the symptoms. Carcinoid syndrome symptoms can be controlled and the growth of the tumour can be delayed with drugs enabling the person to lead an active life with only occasional symptoms coming up.

 If and as the tumour may grow or spread producing more hormones it would be difficult to control the symptoms and the need for further treatment or surgery would also be essential. Should the tumour spread to the liver, lymph nodes, lung or the lining of the abdomen, a cure would be unlikely and it would be difficult to remove all the cancer cells and the person needs to be carefully monitored.