Carcinoid tumours of the lung
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Weerakkody Y, Knipe H, Ibrahim D, et al. Carcinoid tumours of the lung. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 24 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-22431
rID:
22431
Article created:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.
View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:
- Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
- Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosures
Revisions:
19 times, by
13 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Synonyms:
- Pulmonary carcinoid tumours
- Pulmonary carcinoids
- Carcinoid tumours of lung
- Carcinoid tumour of the lung
- Pulmonary carcinoid tumors
- Carcinoid tumour of lung
- Carcinoid tumor of the lung
- Carcinoid tumor of lung
- Pulmonary carcinoid tumour
- Pulmonary carcinoid tumor
- Pulmonary carcinoid
Carcinoid tumours of the lung are a subgroup of neuroendocrine tumours of the lung, of lower grade than small cell carcinoma of the lung and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung.
For a general discussion, please refer to the article on carcinoid tumours.
Pathology
Carcinoid tumours can be divided into two groups dependent on location:
bronchial carcinoid tumours: central lesions (most common ~75% 9)
peripheral pulmonary carcinoid tumours: peripheral lesions (less common reported range 16-40% 9)
Carcinoid tumours can also be divided into two histological groups (requires resected specimen rather than biopsy 6) as follows:
-
typical carcinoid tumours of the lung
considered much more common (~90%) 5,9
low grade/well-differentiated 4
-
atypical carcinoid tumours of the lung
less well-differentiated
more aggressive 3,4
Radiographic features
Please refer to location-dependent subtypes above.
References
- 1. Chong S, Lee K, Chung M, Han J, Kwon O, Kim T. Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Lung: Clinical, Pathologic, and Imaging Findings. Radiographics. 2006;26(1):41-57; discussion 57. doi:10.1148/rg.261055057 - Pubmed
- 2. Magid D, Siegelman S, Eggleston J, Fishman E, Zerhouni E. Pulmonary Carcinoid Tumors: CT Assessment. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1989;13(2):244-7. doi:10.1097/00004728-198903000-00010 - Pubmed
- 3. Marty-Ané C, Costes V, Pujol J, Alauzen M, Baldet P, Mary H. Carcinoid Tumors of the Lung: Do Atypical Features Require Aggressive Management? Ann Thorac Surg. 1995;59(1):78-83. doi:10.1016/0003-4975(94)00630-P - Pubmed
- 4. Thomas C, Tazelaar H, Jett J. Typical and Atypical Pulmonary Carcinoids : Outcome in Patients Presenting with Regional Lymph Node Involvement. Chest. 2001;119(4):1143-50. doi:10.1378/chest.119.4.1143 - Pubmed
- 5. Cooper W, Thourani V, Gal A, Lee R, Mansour K, Miller J. The Surgical Spectrum of Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Neoplasms. Chest. 2001;119(1):14-8. doi:10.1378/chest.119.1.14 - Pubmed
- 6. Rekhtman N. Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Lung: An Update. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2010;134(11):1628-38. doi:10.5858/2009-0583-RAR.1 - Pubmed
- 7. Tsubochi H, Endo S, Oda Y, Dobashi Y. Carcinoid Tumor of the Lung with Massive Ossification: Report of a Case Showing the Evidence of Osteomimicry and Review of the Literature. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2013;6(5):957-61. PMC3638109 - Pubmed
- 8. Jeung M, Gasser B, Gangi A et al. Bronchial Carcinoid Tumors of the Thorax: Spectrum of Radiologic Findings. Radiographics. 2002;22(2):351-65. doi:10.1148/radiographics.22.2.g02mr01351 - Pubmed
- 9. Papaporfyriou A, Domayer J, Meilinger M et al. Bronchoscopic Diagnosis and Treatment of Endobronchial Carcinoid: Case Report and Review of the Literature. Eur Respir Rev. 2021;30(159):200115. doi:10.1183/16000617.0115-2020 - Pubmed
Incoming Links
Articles:
- Pulmonary mass
- Solitary pulmonary nodule
- Peripheral, pleura-based and perifissural nodules
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Endobronchial metastases (mnemonic)
- Peripheral pulmonary carcinoid tumour
- Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumour of the prostate
- Atypical pulmonary carcinoid tumour
- Benign vs malignant pulmonary nodule
- Bronchial atresia
- Calcified pulmonary nodules
- Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumours
- Pulmonary tumourlet
- Hyperattenuating pulmonary mass lesion
- Unilateral hypertransradiant hemithorax
- MIBG
- Von Hippel-Lindau disease
Cases:
- Carcinoid tumour of the lung
- Carcinoid tumor of the lung
- Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumor
- Carcinoid tumor causing complete atelectasis left lung
- Bronchial carcinoid tumour
- Bronchial carcinoid tumour causing right lower lobe collapse
- Bronchial carcinoid
- Bronchial carcinoid tumor
- Endobronchial carcinoid tumour
- Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia with pulmonary carcinoid tumour
- Bronchial carcinoid tumor
- Bronchus intermedius carcinoid tumour
- Obstructing typical carcinoid causing bronchoceles
- Pulmonary carcinoid
- Bronchial carcinoid tumour with right lower lobe collapse
- Pulmonary carcinoid tumour - peripheral
Multiple choice questions:
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airspace opacification
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- tracheal air column
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- normal chest x-ray appearance of the diaphragm
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lines and stripes
- anterior junction line
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- right paratracheal stripe
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hypersensitivity pneumonitis
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- aetiology
- bird fancier's lung: pigeon fancier's lung
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idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (mnemonic)
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- lymphoid interstitial pneumonia (LIP)
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- usual interstitial pneumonia / idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (UIP/IPF)
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pneumoconioses
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- non-fibrotic
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lung cancer
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non-small-cell lung cancer
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adenocarcinoma
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- minimally invasive tumours
- invasive tumours
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- salivary gland-type tumours
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adenocarcinoma
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lung cancer invasion patterns
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non-small-cell lung cancer
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