Management of 1- to 2-cm Carcinoid Tumors of the Appendix: Using the National Cancer Data Base to Address Controversies in General Surgery

BackgroundThe management of 1- to 2-cm appendiceal carcinoid tumors remains controversial. Here we use the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) to compare long-term outcomes for patients treated via resection of the primary tumor alone vs right hemicolectomy (RHC).Study DesignThe 1998 to 2011 NCDB User File was queried to identify patients with 1- to 2-cm appendiceal carcinoids. Patients were stratified by surgical technique: resection of the primary tumor alone vs RHC with regional lymphadenectomy. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare short-term outcomes. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method with comparisons based on the log-rank test.ResultsA total of 916 patients were identified, including 42% managed with primary resection and 58% with RHC. Patients who underwent RHC had slightly larger tumors and higher-stage tumors; otherwise, there were no baseline differences between groups. The rates of positive margins were similar (5.5% vs 4.5%; p = 0.60). Among all patients, 1- and 5-year survival were 98.1% and 88.7% vs 96.7% and 87.4% (p = 0.52) for those managed via primary resection vs RHC, respectively. Among patients with moderate/high-grade/anaplastic carcinoids, 1- and 5-year survival were 93.3% and 72.0% vs 92.3% and 71.9%, respectively (p = 0.78). After adjustment with Cox proportional hazards modeling, we confirmed that there was no survival benefit for patients undergoing RHC (hazard ratio = 1.14; p = 0.72).ConclusionsFor 1- to 2-cm appendiceal carcinoids, formal resection of the right colon does not appear to improve survival, even for higher-grade tumors. Our findings suggest that resection of the primary tumor alone is adequate for all carcinoids <2 cm.