Small bowel cancer
introduction
The human intestine is about 5 meters long and is divided into several sections.
Each part has a different job. The small intestine, which in Latin Intestine tenue means, is again divided into 3 sections, the duodenum (Duodenum), Jejunum (Jejunum) and ileum (Ileum).
It is the longest part of the human intestine and is mainly responsible for breaking down food.
A tumor can develop from the tissue in any of these three sections.
Small intestine cancer in the gastrointestinal tract is a rare tumor disease and almost always affects the glandular tissue, i.e. the mucous membrane. These types of tumors are called adenocarcinomas.
frequency
Basically it is Colon cancer a very common cancer.
However, most people get sick Colon cancer and not on Small bowel cancer.
It is believed that the Small bowel cancer therefore occurs less frequently, as the food is shorter in this section of the intestine.
As there is a presumption that bad ingredients in the diet can be partly responsible for the Emergence of small bowel cancer, the length of stay of the food is of great importance.
Small intestine cancers
In small bowel cancer, a general distinction must be made between benign and malignant tumors.
Benign small bowel cancer can manifest itself in many different ways. These include, for example, the adenoma (arising from the mucous membrane), the fibroma (arising from the connective tissue), the lipoma (arising from the fatty tissue) or the leiomyoma (arising from the muscles).
Malignant small bowel cancer can manifest as carcinoma (arising from the mucous membrane), as sarcoma (arising from muscle or connective tissue) or as lymphoma (arising from lymph tissue).
root cause
The exact cause of the small bowel cancer is not clear.
However, there are some factors that favor the development of the tumor.
On the one hand, it is assumed that harmful foods are responsible for the disease, or that certain diseases can promote carcinoma in the small intestine.
These include Crohn's disease, polyps and also benign growths that are found anywhere in the intestinal area can degenerate.
Degeneration means that the cells no longer die, but continue to multiply.
One reason why colon tumors occur much more frequently than small intestine tumors is that the food usually remains in the large intestine for much longer than in the small intestine.
Read more on the subject at: What are the causes of colon cancer? or Lynch Syndrome
Symptoms
As with most other cancers of the colon (Enterological area), you rarely have early symptoms.
This means that the disease is usually either discovered by chance as part of a preventive examination, or the cancer is very advanced when it is discovered.
The typical symptoms are similar to those of tumor diseases in the other sections of the intestine. Usually the typical symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, altered stool and altered bowel habits that torment patients over a long period of time.
If the disease is more advanced, colic and bleeding often occur. Bleeding often manifests itself in the stool.
Read more about: Blood in the stool - these are the causes!
If there is metastasis to other organs, the symptoms in the intestinal area can be accompanied by many other symptoms that affect other organs.
In very bad cases, a tumor that has spread widely in the intestine and occupies the entire intestinal tube can lead to an intestinal obstruction.
This must be treated immediately as it is life threatening.
As with many cancers, this one often leads to enormous weight loss in a short time. The tumor itself needs enormous amounts of energy, especially at an advanced stage, and slowly deprives the body of its reserves.
Read more on the topic: Stages of colon cancer and their prognosis
Celiac disease
In the context of small bowel cancer, celiac disease, i.e. the intolerance to foods containing gluten, can occur.
The reason for this is the change in the mucous membrane of the small intestine caused by the tumor. This changes the structure of the surface and of the transporters and receptors that are involved in the uptake and absorption of certain food components.
Conversely, there have also been isolated cases in which celiac disease has caused cancer of the small intestine. However, this is very rare and not to be expected as a typical consequence of gluten intolerance.
therapy
Various therapy options are used to treat cancer of the small intestine.
surgery
The most important form of therapy in Small bowel cancer is the same as with all other types of colon cancer Surgery. This form of therapy is often curative.
This means that the therapy is based on a cure aims.
Unfortunately, surgery is often no longer possible due to the advanced disease, or it is no longer curative. It will be sometimes Metastases removed or the tumor at least reduced in size.
Whether an operation is possible and effective also depends on where the tumor is located.
In some cases, it has settled in places that cannot be operated on because, for example, other organs would be endangered by the operation.
This decision is always made by the attending doctors.
If the patients are already very old or severely weakened by the disease, surgery is usually not possible as this can further negatively affect the patient's condition.
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is just as important. This is used for most types of cancer.
Chemotherapy often shrinks the tumor so that it can then be operated on or the symptoms can be alleviated. The therapy can also remove or reduce the size of metastases.
Chemotherapy is a drug therapy that primarily attacks cells in the body that divide quickly, as cancer cells also multiply extremely quickly.
Chemotherapy can be administered on an inpatient or outpatient basis.
Since numerous other, healthy cells in the body are also very divisible, patients usually have many side effects that often make life difficult.
Most people complain of gastrointestinal complaints, as well as fatigue, hair loss and brittle fingernails and toenails.
The cells of the gastrointestinal tract and the red blood cells divide very often and are therefore also attacked. Even if nausea and digestive disorders do not make life easy, it is also the lack of hair that often causes enormous psychological stress.
Read more on the topic: Chemotherapy for colon cancer
radiotherapy
Another very often used therapy is that radiotherapy.
Ionizing radiation is used to specifically eliminate those cells that are being irradiated. Also through the radiotherapy Tumors are often reduced in size or smaller growths destroyed.
Even after this type of therapy, in some cases, after the tumor has been reduced in size, a Operation possible.
diagnosis
The Diagnosis of small bowel cancer occurs in many cases very late, i.e. when the cancer is already in an advanced stage, since symptoms or characteristic symptoms are usually only present appear late and the common examination methods such as Endoscopy and Sonography (ultrasound) often do not show any changed areas in the intestine in the early stages.
Only later does one resort to more informative research methods such as Magnetic resonance imaging and Computed tomography, such as Roentgen.
The examination methods mentioned at the beginning can also reveal tumors at an advanced stage.
But the safest method of investigation is this Computed Tomography and a biopsy and Examination of the malignant tissue.
This is the only way to infer the type of tumor. In addition to the above-mentioned examination methods, Blood tests and Examinations of the stool such as anamnese and more physical exams added.
Especially at the beginning, the entire body is examined to detect the cancer in the appropriate stage to divide and the appropriate therapy to be able to choose. In addition, daughter tumors must be treated in the same way as primary tumors.
early detection
Of the Colon cancer generally it is usually first recognized very latesince the initial symptoms very diffuse are and not explicit indicate a serious illness.
Usually there are typical signs of a Abdominal influenzawhich are initially associated with a tumor in the bowel area. Very few patients go directly to an appropriate examination based on these symptoms alone.
Most of the time, the cancer is only recognized at a late stage, which in some cases greatly reduces the chances of survival. Some diseases are discovered by chance, because the patient is at the "right" point in time Medical check-up undergoes.
MRI of the abdomen
Magnetic resonance tomography makes it possible to visualize organs or other soft parts of the body, as well as muscles.
Magnetic resonance tomography has the advantage over x-rays or computed tomography that this examination method is completely harmless to the body.
In MRI, magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation are used, which make it possible to take sectional images of the body. Since the device for this examination completely encloses the body (tubular shape) and the head can also be completely enclosed, images of all levels of the body and also from all sides can be obtained if desired.
This makes it possible to create images of almost all internal structures. Only bones and also the lungs cannot be displayed as well as they contain little water in comparison, which, due to the technology, provides less good resolutions.
During the examination itself, depending on which body area has to be examined, the patient is pushed completely or only partially into the tube.
The examination takes a relatively long time and depends entirely on the structure to be examined.
The only downside to the MRI machine is the volume. It sometimes makes very loud noises, which makes it necessary to protect the patient's ears with headphones.
There is also the possibility to press a button if you get claustrophobic or other complaints arise.
This "emergency" button connects you directly to a medical specialist who can immediately abort the examination.
Since the small intestine is a part of the body that contains a great deal of water, it can be shown very well by magnetic resonance imaging and conspicuous areas can be recognized.
The MRI examination is mainly used to detect metastases, and it is also often used to plan an intervention, i.e. an operation, as precisely as possible.
Read more on the topic: MRI of the abdomen
forecast
The prognosis, like survival time, depends on when the disease is discovered. The earlier the disease is detected, the better the prognosis.
Metastasis
In more advanced stages, small bowel cancer metastasizes, i.e. the tumor tissue is spread to other parts of the body.
The metastases can occur both in the small intestine itself and in other organs. The process of metastasis can in principle both via the lymphatic system (lymphogenic) and via the vessels (hematogenous). In the small intestine, both are possible depending on the location.
A common organ in which metastases are already present at diagnosis is the liver. This can be explained by the spatial proximity. Another common site for metastases in small bowel cancer are other organs of the gastrointestinal system, such as the stomach. The pancreas is also frequently affected by metastases due to its close proximity.
What does end-stage small bowel cancer look like?
In the end stage, small bowel cancer usually has a large number of tumorous growths in the abdomen that affect a large part of the bowel. This leads to increased passage disorders of the food in the intestine. If the disease progresses, this often manifests itself in a life-threatening intestinal obstruction (ileus), which must be treated surgically as quickly as possible, since otherwise an intestinal rupture is to be expected.
Read more on this topic at: End-stage colon cancer
Chances of survival
The chances of survival depend entirely on the time of discovery of the primary tumor in the small intestine. In addition, other factors such as the age and general condition of the patient play a major role in the further course of the disease.
The location of the tumor is also not insignificant for the chances of recovery.
The tumor is usually discovered very late, which in some cases severely reduces the chances of survival.
If the cancer is detected very early, up to 90% of the diseases can be completely cured. However, if metastases have spread to other organs and lymph nodes, often only palliative treatment is possible - this means that the therapy is no longer aimed and can no longer aim at a cure, but the patient's symptoms are alleviated and the survival time can possibly be extended.
The problem with small bowel cancer is the low specificity of the symptoms.
As a result, many small intestinal tumors are unfortunately only recognized at a very late stage and can only be treated to a limited extent.
The 5-year survival rate is therefore only around 20%, so around 20% of all patients are still alive 5 years after diagnosis of small bowel cancer.
Read more on the topic: Life expectancy in colon cancer
prophylaxis
Nobody can be 100% sure that they will never develop cancer.
In the course of life, many “mistakes” occur in cell division, which can later lead to growths and uncontrolled cell growth.
Even if the body has many of its own defense systems and repair systems, not all mistakes in cell division can be reversed.
Still, you can get through, for example sufficient sport, exercise and also by one balanced and healthy dietto prevent any illness or at least that risk to suffer from such a disease.
One should be on excessive meat consumption give up a lot high fiber Eating and consuming food alcohol and tobacco do without if possible.
In addition to the correct and healthy lifestyle are natural Checkups of great importance. It is important to the body check regularly to allow small bowel cancer to be detected at an early stage.
