Goblet Cell Carcinoid Tumors of the Appendix: A Report of Two Cases, Review of a Rare Clinical Entity, and Guidelines for Treatment

Goblet cell carcinoid tumor is a rare clinical entity which is usually diagnosed either as acute appendicitis or advanced cancer. Its main characteristic is that the histological findings are between those of adenocarcinoma and typical carcinoid tumor of the appendix. Goblet cell carcinoid tumors appear almost exclusively in the appendix, and prognosis depends mainly on the stage and the subtype of the histological classification. We report three cases of goblet cell carcinoid tumor in the appendix with different clinical presentation and evolution: a 60-year-old male admitted to the emergency room with acute abdominal pain, diagnosed with acute appendicitis and treated with laparoscopic appendectomy; a 65-year-old male undergoing right hemicolectomy to remove a cecal adenoma, with a goblet cell carcinoid tumor found incidentally in the surgical specimen; and a 77-year-old male with acute appendicitis. We discuss the main pathological and clinical findings, and propose a set of guidelines for clinical practice.