Surgical management of bronchopulmonary typical carcinoid tumors: an institutional experience

Bronchopulmonary typical carcinoid tumors are well known as low-grade malignant tumors with fairly benign behaviors; however, distant metastasis after complete resection and multiple carcinoid tumors in the resected lungs have been sporadically reported. Lesser resections are preferred including lung-sparing surgery, while the importance of major surgical resections is also emphasized. For better understanding of bronchopulmonary typical carcinoid tumors, we reviewed our institutional experience. Eight patients with bronchopulmonary typical carcinoid tumors underwent complete pulmonary resection. Various perioperative variables and postoperative survival were investigated retrospectively. All patients were alive after surgery. Seven patients received more than a lobectomy and one underwent a segmentectomy for a peripheral small nodule. In all patients, systemic nodal dissection was performed. In one patient who received a lobectomy for a peripheral nodule, multiple carcinoid tumors were found in the resected specimen. No patients received any adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy after pulmonary resection. In one patient, tumors recurred at the bronchial stump and in the liver approximately five years after complete pulmonary resection. Despite a small number of cases, our study supported the idea that bronchopulmonary typical carcinoid tumors might require major surgical procedures and that complete pulmonary resection of typical carcinoid tumors could expect long-term survival.