General Medical Information

Small Intestine Cancer

Depending on the histology, cancer of the small intestine is treatable and sometimes curable. Adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, sarcoma, and carcinoid tumors account for the majority of small intestine malignancies which, as a whole, account for only 1% to 2% of all gastrointestinal malignancies.[1-4] As in other gastrointestinal malignancies, the predominant modality of treatment is surgery when resection is possible, and cure relates to the ability to completely resect the cancer. The overall 5-year survival rate for resectable adenocarcinoma is only 20%. The 5-year survival rate for resectable leiomyosarcoma, the most common primary sarcoma of the small intestine, is approximately 50%. Carcinoid tumors of the small intestine are covered elsewhere as a separate cancer entity. Lymphoma of the small intestine is dealt with briefly here.

References

1. Coit DG: Cancer of the small intestine. In: DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA, eds.: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001, pp 1204-1215.

2.Serour F, Dona G, Birkenfeld S, et al.: Primary neoplasms of the small bowel. J Surg Oncol 49 (1): 29-34, 1992.

3. Matsuo S, Eto T, Tsunoda T, et al.: Small bowel tumors: an analysis of tumor-like lesions, benign and malignant neoplasms. Eur J Surg Oncol 20 (1): 47-51, 1994.

4. Chow JS, Chen CC, Ahsan H, et al.: A population-based study of the incidence of malignant small bowel tumours: SEER, 1973-1990. Int J Epidemiol 25 (4): 722-8, 1996.