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What is Small Bowel Cancer
The intestines are made up of the small bowel, containing the jejunum and ileum, and the large bowel or colon. Most cancers of the intestines occur in the large bowel. This is what we call “colon cancer”. In small bowel cancer, however, the cancer occurs in the duodenum, the jejunum or the ileum and is less common than colon cancer. Small bowel cancer represents about one to two percent of all intestinal cancers, making it much rarer than colon cancer. Only about 7000 people will be diagnosed as having this type of cancer each year and, of these, about 1100 will die of the disease.
Small bowel cancer starts in the lining of the small bowel or small intestine. Cells begin to grow out of control and change into a tumor. The tumor may be noncancerous and can cause obstruction of the small bowel or it can be cancerous and can spread to other body areas. It is believed that hereditary factors and environmental factors play a role in developing cancer in the small bowel but the actual causes of the disease are not clear.
5 Types
There are five types of small bowel cancer. These include the adenocarcinoma, the most common type. It occurs primarily in the glands of the small bowel and affects the duodenum or the jejunum the most. A sarcoma is a cancer that affects the smooth muscle on the wall of the small bowel. It is most commonly found in the ileum. It is slightly more dangerous than an adenocarcinoma. A special tumor known as the gastrointestinal stromal tumor or GIST is very rare and starts in the interstitial or middle cells in the wall of the intestine. It is labeled a soft tissue sarcoma because it occurs in the muscle part of the small intestine.
A carcinoid tumor is actually a neuroendocrine tumor that grows primarily in the ileum of the colon. A carcinoid tumor produces hormones that can cause symptoms in the body. A lymphoma, generally considered a tumor of the lymph system, can grow in the lymph glands associated with the small bowel. In such cases, it becomes cancer in the small bowel. Usually, such a tumor is a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and occurs in either the jejunum or the ileum. The lymph cells are intimately associated with the small bowel and this is thus considered a small bowel cancer.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a small bowel cancer can include abdominal pain, cramping, blood in the stool or tarry stools and obstruction of the colon. Weight loss and vomiting can be also be a symptom, depending on where the cancer is located. Changes in stool consistency can also be a problem. If the tumor is a carcinoid tumor, there can be symptoms related to the hormone the carcinoid tumor is producing. Many substances, including serotonin, can be produced by a carcinoid tumor and it can give you a variety of nonspecific symptoms.
Survival Rates
The survival rates of small bowel cancer are different depending on the type of cancer involved. For adenocarcinoma, the survival rate for stage I disease is about 55 percent after five years. In sarcoma, the survival rate is about 50 percent after five years. Survival is always worse if the cancer has spread to other body areas. Remember that these are just statistics and that you might survive cancer without difficulty depending on your normal state of health and the stage of the tumor.
Written by Christine Traxler
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