Home > Encyclopedia of Cancer > Carcinoid Tumors, Gastrointestinal

Definition

Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors are rare malignancies in which cancer develops in hormone-producing cells that line the appendix, bronchus, esophagus, intestines, liver, ovary, pancreas, rectum, stomach, testes, and thymus.

Description

Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors are also called:

• carcinoids
• endocrine tumors, carcinoid type
• metastatic carcinoid tumors
• neuroendocrine tumors
• neuroendocrine cancers

Types of gastrointestinal carcinoids

Doctors describe gastrointestinal carcinoids according to the part of the gastrointestinal tract in which they originate....