The limitation of liver function tests in metastatic carcinoid tumors

To evaluate the utility of liver function tests (LFT) as indicators of metastatic carcinoid tumors, a retrospective study was performed. The LFT results of 17 patients with carcinoid tumors metastatic to the liver were compared with 17 patients with other malignant tumors. In the noncarcinoid group, 82.4% of the patients had elevated alkaline phosphatase (AP) or gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP), whereas only 28.6% of carcinoid patients had abnormal enzymes. The medians of all LFT values were significantly higher in noncarcinoid patients than in the carcinoid group, except for glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT). Our data indicate that LFT are helpful in screening for liver metastases in patients with noncarcinoid tumors, but are unreliable in carcinoid tumors. Imaging tests should be used to rule out liver metastases in carcinoid tumors, irrespective of LFT results.