Prognostic variables in patients with gastrointestinal carcinoid tumours.

Prognostic variables in patients with gastrointestinal carcinoid tumour were studied with a view to identifying those most likely to benefit from aggressive therapy. A total of 188 patients were studied; the median follow-up of those surviving was 72 months. On univariate analysis variables of prognostic significance were sex (P < 0.01), site of the primary tumour (P < 0.01), depth of invasion (P < 0.001), tumour size (P < 0.005), presence of lymph node (P < 0.001) or liver (P < 0.001) metastases, mode of discovery (P < 0.001) and operative intent (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis the variables independently predictive of death from disease were sex (women have a better prognosis) and presence of metastases at the time of diagnosis.