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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffCarcinoid syndrome is caused by a carcinoid tumor that secretes serotonin or other chemicals into your bloodstream. Carcinoid tumors occur most commonly in your gastrointestinal tract, including your stomach, small intestine, appendix, colon and rectum, or in your lungs. In rare circumstances, carcinoid tumors can develop in the ovaries.
Only a small percent of carcinoid tumors secrete the chemicals that cause carcinoid syndrome. In most cases, the liver effectively degrades those chemicals before they have a chance to travel through your body and cause symptoms. However, when an advanced tumor spreads (metastasizes) to the liver itself, these metastases may secrete chemicals, which are not as effectively degraded before reaching the bloodstream. Most people who experience carcinoid syndrome have an advanced tumor that has spread to the liver.
Some carcinoid tumors don't have to be advanced to cause carcinoid syndrome. For instance, carcinoid lung tumors that secrete chemicals into the blood do so much farther upstream — not directly into the liver, where the chemicals are processed and eliminated. Carcinoid tumors in the intestine, on the other hand, secrete their chemicals into blood that must first pass through the liver before reaching the rest of the body. The liver usually neutralizes the chemicals before they can affect the rest of the body.
What causes carcinoid tumors is unclear.
