Carcinoid tumors of the lung: a report of 11 cases.

Objective: Carcinoid tumors of the lung are rare, and account for 1% of all primary tumors of the lung. This study was undertaken to investigate the histological characteristics and clinical behavior of carcinoid tumors of the lung.

Methods: We have retrospectively reviewed the hospital records of 11 consecutive patients undergoing surgical treatment for carcinoid tumors of the lung between 1992 and 2007.

Results: Patients with carcinoid tumors accounted for 0.8% (11 of 1319) of the patients undergoing surgical treatment for nonsmall cell lung cancer. The group comprised six males and five females with a mean age at presentation of 58.6 years (range 27-78 years). All of the operations were lobectomies, including two sleeve lobectomies. Six patients had typical and five had atypical carcinoid tumors. Seven patients had stage IA disease, two had stage IB, one had stage IIA, and one had stage IIIA. Recurrent tumors developed in two of the five patients affected by atypical carcinoid tumors, but none of the six patients with typical carcinoid tumors. Overall, the 5-year survival rate of patients with both typical and atypical carcinoid tumors was 90.9%.

Conclusion: Survival of carcinoid tumors was favorable. In this analysis, two patients with atypical carcinoid had postoperative recurrences. Recurrence was more common among patients with atypical carcinoid tumors.