5-HIAA levels in urine are elevated in 75% of cases. Certain foods and medicines must be avoided for a couple of days before this test, and on the day the urine is collected. These include bananas, pineapple and its juice, red plums, avocado, walnuts, kiwi fruit, tomatoes, various cough medicines, muscle-relaxing medicines, acetaminophen (Tylenol), caffeine, fluorouacil, iodine solutions, phenacetin, MAO inhibitors (certain anti-depressant drugs), isoniazid, and phenothiazine drugs (Compazine, Thorazine).
Serotonin levels in blood may be elevated.
Chromogranin A in blood may be elevated.
Tryptophan in blood may be decreased.
The OctreoScan -- a radio-isotope scanning test -- has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This test will identify most carcinoids and any other neuroendocrine tumors.
A CT and MRI scan may be done along with the OctreoScan to monitor the progress of treatment of the carcinoid tumor.
Less frequent tests may include histamine, bradykinin, neurone-specific enolase, calcitonin, Substance-P, neurokinin-A, and pancreatic polypeptide.
An examination may indicate heart valve lesions or signs of niacin-deficiency disease (pellagra). Signs of pellagra develop when most of the available tryptophan is used by the tumor to produce serotonin, which then prevents the body from manufacturing niacin.
Review Date: 8/3/2004
Reviewed By: Marcia S. Brose, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Hematology/Oncology, The University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
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