Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour

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.

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

Signs and symptoms

Lung carcinoids typically present with a cough or hemoptysis. 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

External links

• Lung carcinoids (cancer.org)