The Carcinoid Flush

THE carcinoid syndrome is characterized by episodes of flushing that appear to be secondary to the secretion of one or more substances by a tumor of enterochromaffin-cell origin.1 2 3 Flushing can be provoked pharmacologically by the administration of epinephrine,4 isoproterenol,5 ethanol,6 and calcium.7 A number of physiologic stimuli have also been reported to trigger carcinoid flushing, most notably food intake.1 Stimulated by the observation that pentagastrin evoked flushing episodes in two patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (Roberts LJ, McKenna TJ, McLean GW, et al: unpublished data), we considered the possibility that gastrin could act as an endogenous trigger of . . .