Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour

Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour
Other names	Typical lung carcinoid tumour, lung carcinoid, typical lung carcinoid
Micrograph of a typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour.
Specialty	Oncology

Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour is a subtype of pulmonary carcinoid tumour. It is an uncommon low-grade malignant lung mass that is most often in the central airways of the lung.^[1]

Signs and symptoms

Lung carcinoids typically present with a cough or hemoptysis.^[2] Findings may closely mimic malignant tumours of the lung, i.e. lung cancer.

Diagnosis

CT-guided biopsy of peripheral typical carcinoid tumor

The definitive diagnosis is rendered by a microscopic examination, after excision. Typical carcinoids have cells with stippled chromatin and a moderate quantity of cytoplasm. They typically have few mitoses and lack necrosis. By definition, they are greater than 4 mm in largest dimension; smaller lesions are referred to as pulmonary carcinoid tumourlets.

The differential diagnosis of typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour includes: atypical pulmonary carcinoid tumour, pulmonary carcinoid tumourlet and lung adenocarcinoma.

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  Very high magnification
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  With prominent rosettes

Treatment

Typical carcinoids are usually treated with surgical excision.

See also

• Pulmonary tumor
• Lung cancer
• Atypical pulmonary carcinoid tumour
• Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumor

References

External links

• Lung carcinoids (cancer.org)