Background: This study aims to investigate possible factors other than lymph node invasion and cell type which may affect survival in patients with lung carcinoids over long-term follow-up.

Methods: This retrospective study included 82 patients (36 males, 46 females; mean age 43.8 years; range 16 to 19 years) operated with a diagnosis of bronchial carcinoid between February 1993 and November 2012. Factors that may affect survival were identified as age, sex, location of surgery, T status, N status, complete resection, resection width, cell type, and stage. Morbidities and mortalities were recorded according to these factors.

Results: Mean duration of follow-up was 84 months. Ten-year survival rate was 98.5%. Of patients, 49 were T1, 29 were T2, and four were T3. Data showed that T status affected survival (p=0.001). According to the seventh TNM staging system, 65 of the patients were stage 1, 14 were stage 2, and two were stage 3. Surgical margins were positive in one patient. Stage of disease had an effect on survival (p=0.023). Sixty-eight patients had typical, and 14 patients had atypical carcinoids. There was no difference in survival between typical and atypical carcinoids (p=0.62). Seventy patients were N0, 10 patients were N1, and two patients were N2. According to data, N status did not affect survival (p=0.72).

Conclusion: In our study, surgery performed on tumors detected at an earlier stage was found to have a better prognosis.

Keywords : Mortality; pulmonary carcinoid tumor; survival