Clinical experience with neuroendocrine rectal tumors.

611 Background: Carcinoids are heterogeneous neuroendocrine tumors with malignant potential. The rectum is the third most common location for gastrointestinal carcinoids after small bowel and colon. Due to their rarity, the characteristics and behavior of this unusual malignancy remain unclear. Methods: Retrospective review of the clinicopathologic features of patients treated for carcinoid tumors of the rectum. Results: A single institute's tumor registry was retrospectively queried, identifying nine patients with rectal carcinoid tumors over a 10-year period. The mean age at diagnosis was 57.6 years. Four of the nine patients were female. Presenting symptoms included abdominal pain in five patients, rectal bleeding in two patients and a change in bowel habits in one patient. As previously reported, no patient had symptoms consistent with carcinoid syndrome. The rectal tumor size was > 2 cm in five patients. The rectal tumor was located in the lower third of the rectum in three cases (< 5 cm from anal ve...