Read article Screening for carcinoid tumours
This page tells you about screening for carcinoid.
Screening for carcinoid
Screening means testing for early stages of a disease before there are any symptoms.
We do not screen for carcinoid in the UK. At the moment we don’t have a proven test that can safely and reliably find carcinoid tumours. Also, because these tumours are rare, very few would be found and the cost of screening everyone would be very high.
Talk to your doctor if you believe that you may be at a higher than average risk of developing a carcinoid tumour, for example if you have a particular medical condition. Your doctor may be able to organise regular check ups. If you have inherited a rare family syndrome called multiple endocrine neoplasia 1 (MEN1) your doctors may suggest that you regularly have tests to check for a number of different types of cancer. We know that some people with this family syndrome will develop carcinoid tumours.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the About carcinoid section.
Screening means testing for early stages of a disease before there are any symptoms.
Before doctors can screen for any type of cancer, they must have an accurate test to use. The test must
- Be reliable in picking up cancers that are there
- Not make it look as though there is a cancer in people who don't have one (called a false positive result)
At the moment we don’t have a proven test that can safely and reliably find carcinoid tumours.
We don’t screen for carcinoid in the UK at the moment because
- The tests have risks that outweigh the benefits for most people
- Carcinoid is a rare tumour so few would be found
- The costs involved would be very high
- We mostly don’t know who is at higher risk of developing carcinoid
With uncommon diseases, it is most cost effective to screen people who are thought to be at a higher risk. But first we must be sure that we know who is at higher risk.
If you believe that you may be at a higher than average risk of developing a carcinoid tumour, for example if you have a particular medical condition, you can talk to your doctor. They may be able to arrange for you to have regular check ups. There is a list of questions you can ask your doctor about carcinoid in this section of CancerHelp UK.
If you have inherited a rare family syndrome called multiple endocrine neoplasia 1 (MEN1), your doctors may suggest that you regularly have tests to check for a number of different types of cancer. We know that some people with this family syndrome will go on to get carcinoid.
Remember - most carcinoid tumours are not related to an inherited family syndrome.
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