Carcinoid tumor in the rectum

Carcinoid tumors of the rectum are uncommon tumors [1]. However, recent report shows that the number of reported cases increases rapidly in both Japanese and non-Japanese series [2], probably due to the constant increase number of colonoscopic examination. The rectum is the most common site of gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors in Japan and the third most common site in American-European countries[3-5]. Even in US, recent report shows that carcinoid tumors of the rectum represented the most frequent primary site among gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors [6]. It occurs most commonly in indivisuals of their 5 to 6 decades, and the male-to-female ratios is 1.0 to 1.11 [7, 8]. Carcinoid tumors of the rectum usually arise singly, and only less than ten cases of multiple carcinoid tumors are reported in English literature [1, 9-11]. Most of the tumors are situated between 4 and 13 cm above the dentate line [2, 6, 9].