Determining the stage of gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors involves identifying the location and spread of cancer. This can help physicians identify the patient’s likely prognosis and select appropriate treatment or therapy.

Though there is no standard system for staging gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors, many physicians use a variation on the following model:

• Localized stage. The tumor has not spread beyond the walls of the organ in which it developed (e.g., stomach, intestine, rectum).
  
  
• Regional spread. The tumor has spread through the wall of the organ in which it developed and affects nearby tissues, which may include fat, ligaments, muscle and lymph nodes.
  
  
• Distant spread. The tumor has spread to tissues or organs that are more distant from the organ in which the cancer developed. For example, a gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor may spread to the liver or bones.

The survival rates for these tumors depend on their organ of origin. For example, patients with tumors in the small intestine have a much higher survival rate than those with stomach tumors. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors – at any stage – is 68 percent.