Circulating markers of prognosis and response to treatment in patients with midgut carcinoid tumours.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Midgut carcinoid tumours are uncommon tumours with an unpredictable clinical behaviour and few useful prognostic markers. Somatostatin analogues are widely used in treatment but a survival advantage has not been proven. We analysed features associated with poor prognosis and assessed the clinical implications of the biochemical response to therapy.

Methods

Clinical and biochemical data were collected for patients with midgut carcinoid tumours attending a tertiary referral neuroendocrine clinic from 1978 to 2000. Using death as the end point, univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed to identify prognostic indicators. The significance of altering biomarkers with therapy was also studied by including repeated measurements of the most prog

SUBMITTER: Turner GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1860112 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature