Overview:
- It is an uncommon disease characterized by abnormal cells that multiply uncontrollably, as these cells destroy normal cells in the small intestine and spread to different areas of the body
- Tumor types:
- adenocarcinoma
- neuroendocrine tumors
- lymphoma
- gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)
- sarcoma
Etiology:
- Cancer cells are normal cells in origin, but have undergone changes or mutations in their DNA
- The changes caused an imbalance in how they grow and divide and a disorder in their functions
Symptoms:
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Jaundice
- Dark blood in the stool
- Watery diarrhea
- Redness of the skin
- general systemic symptoms of cancer (weakness, fatigue, pallor, fever and night sweating)
Causes:
risk factors include:
- immune system disorder
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- genetic diseases such as:
- Lynch syndrome
- Peutz-jeghers syndrome
- familial adenomatous polyposis
Diagnosis:
- clinical examination
- Laboratory test to assess liver and kidney function
- Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy
- Imaging of the small intestine using the capsule
- CT and MRI to determine stage of tumor
Treatment:
- The treatment for small bowel cancer is usually surgical removal, where involved bowel is removed by laparoscopic surgery and reconnect both edges of healthy intestine
- Chemotherapy can be used as an adjuvant treatment after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.
