Prognosis of gastric carcinoid tumours.

With the aim of evaluating the prognosis of carcinoid tumours of the stomach, the tumours were classified into subtypes on the basis of the type of gastritis, and a comparison made of the type of treatment, metastasizing rate, and the survival rates of the various groups of patients involved. Of the patients with atrophic autoimmune gastritis (type A gastritis) (n = 88) who had multiple carcinoid tumours in the corpus or fundus, usually not more than 1 cm in diameter, 98% were followed up clinically or by endoscopy and biopsy. In these patients, the metastasizing rate was 0%, and the age-corrected Kaplan-Meier survival rate revealed normal life expectancy. 25% of the patients with sporadic carcinoid tumours (n = 12)--most of whom had a Helicobacter pylori-related gastritis and usually solitary tumours located within the corpus of fundus, 25% of which exceeding 1 cm in diameter--underwent surgical treatment. In these patients the metastasizing rate was 16.7% and the age-corrected survival rate 79%. On the basis of our results, we conclude that, depending upon the subtype involved, the prognosis of gastric carcinoid tumours varies, such that regular endoscopy/biopsy follow-up suffices for patients with type A gastritis, while for patients with sporadic carcinoid tumours, surgical treatment is indicated.