Small bowel cancer

Small intestinal cancer is a disease that is accompanied by the development of a malignant seal. A tumor in this type of cancer develops from the tissues of the small intestine and in the process of growth can affect not only surrounding organs, but also spread throughout the body. Symptoms of small intestine cancer can vary, as they are influenced by many factors, in particular, the manifestations of the disease depend on the location of the tumor. The fact is that with such an oncological disease, the tumor can develop in different parts of the intestine, namely in the jejunum, duodenum and ileum.

Important! The most common is duodenal cancer, since this is the disease diagnosed in 50% of cases of such diseases.

Causes

Doctors have been noticing for many years that the disease is most often diagnosed in patients suffering from pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, some diseases of the digestive system are considered precancerous conditions.

Thus, the cause of small intestinal cancer can be colitis, ulcer, Crohn's disease, polyposis. The culprit may also be a primary malignant tumor located in another organ. In this case, the formation in the small intestine is a metastasis.

In addition to various gastrointestinal pathologies, the following factors can provoke the degeneration of healthy cells into cancerous ones:

Smoking and alcohol abuse.
Poor nutrition.
Contact with harmful substances or radiation.
Age-related changes in the body.
Hereditary predisposition.

Of these factors, the main attention is given to poor nutrition. After all, regular consumption of food containing carcinogens leads to irritation of the digestive tract and disruption of its functioning, which can subsequently provoke oncology.

Diagnosis of small intestine cancer

Diagnostic options are relatively limited as there are few methods available to visualize the condition of the small intestine. Until now, this section of the gastrointestinal tract is considered a “white spot in gastroenterology.” The doctor may order the following tests:

X-ray of the abdominal cavity with contrast - allows you to visualize the lumen of the small intestine, see narrowings, obstacles in the path of contrast;
gastroduodenoscopy - prescribed for suspected duodenal cancer; other parts of the small intestine are not available for endoscopy;
Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity is not very informative for studying the condition of the intestines, but allows you to visualize neighboring organs where metastasis is possible;
computed tomography of the abdominal cavity with contrast - allows you to assess the condition of the small intestine - lumen, wall thickness, and so on;
MRI of the abdominal cavity with contrast;
PET-CT is one of the most accurate, but extremely expensive methods for detecting malignant neoplasms and metastases;
diagnostic laparoscopy - endoscopic examination of the abdominal cavity, if there is a suspicion that the cancer has spread to the outer wall of the intestine, peritoneum, omentum;
exploratory laparotomy - if all other diagnostic options have been exhausted, as a last resort, doctors may suggest open surgery to evaluate the condition of the abdominal cavity.

To determine the general condition, the patient will be prescribed a general and biochemical blood test. If metastases to other organs are suspected, tests are performed to determine how intact the functions of these organs are.

Symptoms

Symptoms of small intestinal cancer vary slightly because the cancer can be located in different locations. After all, the small intestine consists of several sections: the duodenum, jejunum and ileum.

If the duodenum is affected, the symptoms will be very similar to a stomach ulcer. A person complains of aversion to food, dull pain in the intestinal area, which can radiate to the back. In severe form, signs of small intestine cancer appear in the form of such manifestations as:

Intestinal obstruction.
Nausea, vomiting.
Increased gas formation.
Yellowness of the skin.
General weakness.
Sudden loss of body weight.

In case of damage to the jejunum and ileum, the following symptoms occur:

Nausea, vomiting.
Pain syndrome in the intestines.
Spasms in the navel area.
Diarrhea.
The appearance of mucous discharge in the stool.
Bloating.
Fast fatiguability.

Symptoms of the development of malignant oncology become more intense and severe at a later stage. Patients often experience perforation of the intestinal wall, peritonitis develops, the body is poisoned by the decay products of the neoplasm, and signs of severe anemia appear.

Characteristic symptoms

A malignant tumor in the small intestine at the very beginning of the lesion does not provoke any symptoms. The first signs develop only at the stage when the course of the disease leads to a narrowing of the lumen in the affected area of the small intestine.

The very first symptoms that should alert a person and become a reason to visit a doctor include complex dyspeptic problems in the intestines:

persistent nausea;
vomit;
bloating;
spastic pain in the epigastrium, in the navel area.

Also, in the first stages of tumor damage, patients experience the following characteristic manifestations:

loose stools with tenesmus - a false urge to defecate with pain, after which there is copious discharge of mucus;
alternating diarrhea and constipation;
intestinal obstruction of varying severity;
pain during bowel movements.

Pain during bowel movements
Common signs of bowel disease include:

rapidly increasing weakness;
frequent ailments;
rapid fatigue even after light work;
loss of appetite;
sudden, seemingly causeless weight loss;
low protein content in blood plasma;
anemia;
pale tint of blood and mucous surfaces that line the mouth and nasal cavity;
frequent dizziness, headaches;
persistent increase in body temperature to subfebrile.

In men and women, a tumor in the small intestine develops in the first stages of the lesion almost equally. But at the time of active progression and influence on nearby organs, some differences arise.

In women, during the process of tumor growth into the tissue of neighboring organs, the vagina is injured, and in males, the prostate is injured. When the disease affects the rectum and anal area, women and men complain of intense pain in the anus, in the area of the coccyx, sacrum, and lumbar spine.

Men are especially prone to urinary problems. This indicates tumor growth into the walls of the bladder. This process provokes a rise in temperature to high numbers, infection of the urinary tract in an ascending manner.

Important! Oncology can progress for a long time without provoking complaints at all, and first manifest itself only after the occurrence of serious irreversible complications.

A tumor of the small intestine is characterized by a gradual increase in symptoms, and therefore people do not take them seriously. Over time, the tumor grows and has a negative impact on the functions of neighboring organs. In this case, victims have complaints that indicate the following dangerous conditions of the intestine:

intestinal ischemia;
pancreatitis;
obstructive jaundice.

In especially severe cases, serious disruptions already occur in the functioning of other organs that are located closer to the tumor - pancreas, liver, etc.

Tumor detection

Diagnosis of small intestine cancer begins with a conversation with a doctor about complaints, existing diseases, and the presence of bad heredity. After collecting anamnesis, the doctor conducts an external examination of the patient, palpates the abdominal cavity and prescribes additional examination.

It includes the following methods:

Colonoscopy. The technique helps to detect the formation, its size, shape. To carry out diagnostics, an endoscopic device with a camera at the end is inserted through the rectum.
Fibrogastroscopy. The stomach is also further examined. This is also done endoscopically.
Biopsy and histological examination. They help determine whether a tumor in the small intestine has a malignant course, what type it is, and how aggressive it is.
CT scan. Allows you to identify metastases in internal organs.

Based on the diagnostic results obtained, the attending physician makes a diagnosis and selects a treatment regimen for each patient separately.

Main features

Clinical manifestations of the disease in rare situations go unnoticed - it is important to correctly understand the signals of your body and not leave them unattended. Pathological processes occurring in the organ as oncology progresses have a rather aggressive effect on it, and most irreversible phenomena quickly manifest themselves externally.

It is worth noting that a number of the symptoms discussed below have a general underlying cause of cancerous lesions, but there are also signs that are quite specific, indicating a specific type of tumor and probable foci of its localization.

Pain

Pain syndrome is a sign, no matter from which part of the human body it comes from, it always indicates that not everything is in order with the body. With this diagnosis, this manifestation of oncology is not basic and speaks more about the probability than the presence of tumor pathology in the organ in question.

During the course of cancer processes of the small intestine, the pain is initially not pronounced. At first, it may be episodic, unpleasant sensations in the stomach. The patient cannot clearly answer questions about the location of their localization at this stage of the disease.

Thus, at the initial stages, pain syndrome is classified as a minor symptom, the appearance of which is caused by tissue malignancy processes occurring in the small intestine.

As the anomaly progresses and grows, the discomfort intensifies and begins to acquire clear boundaries - the patient can confidently show the doctor exactly where it hurts.

The appearance of unpleasant sensations, as well as the degree of their intensity, are determined by the stage of the process and the area of tumor localization. If the tumor grows in the middle section of the organ or in its iliac part, then the pain will be paroxysmal in nature.

If the lesion is the duodenum, the pain is most often aching, quite tolerable, but almost constant. It can be eliminated only with antispasmodic drugs, and then for a short period of time. In the latter case, the pain of the disease is often confused with manifestations of an ulcer.

Bloating

Bloating very rarely occurs with cancer of other parts of the intestine, so this symptom is one of the main manifestations of oncology of the small part of the organ.

Why is this happening? The main reason for the unpleasant feeling of bloating is associated with intestinal obstruction that occurs due to a growing tumor, when the pathology, increasing in size, partially and then completely blocks the intestinal lumen.

How to detect duodenal cancer at an early stage? This article contains statistics that examine how long a person with stomach carcinoma lives.

What factors https://stoprak.info/vidy/zhkt-kishechnik/tonkaya/kak-protekaet-i-chto-daet-shans-na-vijivanie.html provoke small intestinal cancer?

In addition, due to disruption of the normal functioning of the department, gases accumulate in it in large quantities and burst it from the inside. As a rule, this is accompanied by flatulence.

Manifestations of bloating begin the moment food reaches this part of the intestine - approximately 2.5 hours after eating.

The situation can be significantly aggravated by certain foods, therefore, to reduce the intensity of the symptom, the patient is prescribed a special diet that excludes the consumption of flour, pasta, sausages and smoked meats.

An inflamed small intestine causes obstruction, bloating, and increased abdominal volume.

Impurities in stool

The appearance of atypical impurities in feces is an important sign in the diagnosis of small intestinal cancer. It can be:

blood spots - the concentration of blood in the stool may vary, in severe cases clots make up the majority of the stool. The color of blood is also characteristic - a dark shade, inclusions are evenly distributed in the stool. This is a sure sign of a “high” localization of the tumor against the background of intestinal infection;
purulent fragments are products of the decay of cancerous formations and indicate a severe stage of the disease and serious internal inflammatory processes associated with extensive intoxication. The structural content of feces with abundant accumulation of purulent masses is softer;
mucus – its content in minimal quantities is considered normal. However, too high a concentration of mucous masses makes it possible to diagnose the presence of a neoplasm in the section in question with a high degree of probability.

Nausea and vomiting

Manifested in aggregate, uncontrollable attacks of nausea are accompanied by bright, profuse vomiting. These signs rank second in the frequency of external manifestations of the disease and complaints of patients who have already been diagnosed.

The symptom will manifest itself most clearly if a malignant neoplasm develops in the upper thin parts and is accompanied by a sharp decrease in body weight - the patient loses up to 15 - 20% of the original weight in a few weeks.

If the location is the distal part of the department, nausea and vomiting occur less frequently , and their occurrence is predictable. Most often, this is a period of 20 to 30 minutes after eating.

Vomiting in this case is provoked by toxins caused by the products of the activity of cancer cells. The impulse for such attacks comes from the central nervous system - it processes all atypical signals and sends a command to a specific organ of the body, causing a feeling of nausea - often combined with vomiting.

If, as the disease progresses, the intensity of the occurrence of such attacks increases and begins to be accompanied by an increase in temperature, this means that the patient’s condition is steadily deteriorating, and the treatment is ineffective.

Treatment methods

The most acceptable treatment for small intestinal cancer is surgery. During the operation, the malignant tumor and nearby tissue are removed. If the lymph nodes are affected, they are also eliminated. Depending on the extent of the operation, it may be necessary to artificially restore the intestine.

Radiation therapy is the effect of influencing the formation of high-frequency X-rays. These methods are used before and after surgical removal of the tumor. Both treatments for small bowel cancer cause side effects, but chemotherapy is considered the most aggressive.

Chemotherapy and radiation are prescribed as an adjunct to surgery. The first technique involves introducing special aggressive drugs into the patient’s body that suppress atypical cells.

Concept

Small intestinal cancer is a disease in which malignant neoplasms affect the tissue of one of its three sections: the ileum, duodenum or jejunum.

Most often (in almost half of the cases) the tumor is localized in the tissues of the duodenum, the second (30%) place in the frequency of lesions is the jejunum, and only a fifth of patients suffer from oncology of the ileum.

In the general structure of intestinal cancer, this disease accounts for no more than 4% of cases.

Diet

The diet for small intestine cancer involves following a split diet. The patient should eat 5 times a day with breaks of 2-3 hours. Portions should be small. This helps normalize the process of digestion and absorption of food.

The patient’s menu is designed so that the body receives a sufficient amount of vitamins and microelements every day. Therefore, the diet is enriched with vegetables, fruits, and berries. They are allowed to eat soups, cereals, dairy products, and fish.

During the first time of treatment, food is served in a ground form. They should also be warm, not hot or cold. Under no circumstances should you overeat. The diet also involves drinking a large amount of liquid in the form of plain water, compotes, and herbal decoctions.

Prevention

Preventive measures:

remove benign formations, including cysts and polyps, in a timely manner;
undergo a preventive examination at least once a year, especially after the age of 40;
treat inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in a timely manner; in case of chronic diseases, register with a specialist;
eat right, follow a diet, give preference to foods high in coarse fiber;
to refuse from bad habits;
to live an active lifestyle;
If you suspect cancer, immediately visit a doctor.

After surgery to remove cancer, patients also need to adhere to preventive measures. In this case, there is less chance of relapse.

Small intestine cancer is a disease that threatens the patient's life, but due to the fact that the intestine is poorly supplied with blood, the patient has hope of recovery. The main thing is to detect the disease before the process of metastasis begins.

Author: Oksana Belokur, doctor, especially for Zhkt.ru

Forecast

The prognosis for stage 1-2 small intestinal cancer is quite favorable. At these stages of development, the neoplasm develops within the digestive organ, the process of metastasis has not yet started, so surgery helps people get rid of the pathology.

The favorable prognosis for stage 3-4 small intestinal cancer is sharply reduced. In this case, the disease already affects the internal organs, spreading metastases. Survival in later stages cannot exceed 5 years.

Oncology is an insidious disease that poses a danger to human life. This is why prevention of small intestinal cancer is so important. A healthy lifestyle and regular gastrointestinal examinations will help reduce the risk of tumor development as much as possible.

Reasons for development

The reliable reasons that cause the formation of oncology have not been established. In accordance with the surveys and statistics, the risk of contracting pathology increases in the following situations:

when a small intestine tumor is diagnosed in a person’s immediate relatives;
with chronic infectious inflammation of the small intestine, which can destroy mucous surfaces;
polyps in the intestine;
oncology of other organs;
radiation exposure;
abuse of alcoholic beverages, smoking;
constant inclusion in the diet of salted, dried, smoked foods, which contain a lot of animal fats, as well as frequent consumption of lard and fatty meats.

Polyps
Important! Most often, oncology of the small intestine is detected in men after 60 years of age.

Degrees

Stage 1 malignant neoplasm, not exceeding 2 cm in diameter, is limited to the walls of the small intestine, does not grow into the tissue of neighboring organs and does not metastasize.
A stage 2 malignant tumor, which is slightly larger in size, leaves the intestinal wall, growing into adjacent organs, but does not metastasize.
Stage 3 cancer reaches a significant size and metastasizes to a number of lymph nodes located near the small intestine. There is no distant metastasis.
A stage 4 malignant neoplasm that affects adjacent organs gives numerous metastases to distant organs.

How to examine?

The choice of diagnostic procedures for identifying cancerous tumors of the small intestine depends on the location of the pathological process.

Examination of the duodenum is best done using fibrogastroduodenoscopy and contrast fluoroscopy.
Diagnosing the condition of the ileum will give better results using irrigoscopy and colonoscopy.
Using contrast radiography (barium passage method), the presence of obstacles and areas of stenosis that impede the passage of barium sulfate suspension is detected in the lumen of the intestine under study.

During each endoscopic examination, tumor tissue samples are taken for subsequent laboratory examination to confirm the diagnosis.

The following procedures help to detect the presence of metastases and confirm the fact of germination of a malignant tumor:

Ultrasound of the internal organs of the abdominal cavity;
multislice computed tomography of the abdominal cavity;
bone tissue scintigraphy;
chest x-ray;
laparoscopy (this procedure, equated to surgery, is prescribed if there is some doubt about the accuracy of the diagnosis).

Laboratory methods are given auxiliary importance. For small intestinal cancer:

General blood analysis. Detection of low hemoglobin and increased ESR are typical for any oncological pathology.
Blood chemistry. The detection of carcinoembryonic antigen in it not only confirms the presence of a cancerous tumor, but also makes it possible to determine its stage.
Urine analysis for the content of indican (a substance formed in the liver during the neutralization of indole, a toxic compound that occurs in the intestines as a result of the decay of proteins).
Blood test for tumor markers. In case of small intestinal cancer, markers CA 242, CEA, CA 19-9 can be detected.
Analysis of feces for occult blood.

Diagnostic program

Diagnosis of this disease, as already mentioned, has certain difficulties, because the small intestine is very difficult to access by any method of instrumental research.

In fact, the only technique that allows you to informatively see the mucous membrane of the small intestine is capsule endoscopy. The procedure involves the patient swallowing a small electronic capsule with a built-in camera that takes 16 thousand pictures as it passes through the entire intestine. After a detailed analysis of all photographs, the size and location of the tumor can be accurately determined.

Today, a fairly large number of studies have appeared that make it possible to detect a tumor marker in human blood, which may indicate a malignant process. Unfortunately, the sensitivity of the technique leaves much to be desired.

Types of neoplasms

The growth pattern of small intestinal cancer tumors allows us to divide them into two types:

Exophytic, growing inside the intestinal lumen. At the initial stage of the pathological process, the tumor causes stagnation of the physiological contents of the affected parts of the small intestine (stasis), which eventually develops into intestinal obstruction. Exophytic tumors, which externally resemble plaques, polyps or fungi, are characterized by the presence of clearly defined structured boundaries. When tumors of the exophytic type ulcerate, they acquire a saucer-shaped shape.
Endophytic (infiltrative), considered more malignant and dangerous. Tumors of this type do not have clear boundaries. Spreading along the walls of the affected intestine, they affect its membranes layer by layer and penetrate into neighboring and distant organs through a network of lymphatic vessels. This type of tumor can lead to perforation of the intestinal wall and bleeding.

The histological structure of cancerous tumors of the small intestine is the basis for dividing them into:

Adenocarcinomas: tumors arising from glandular tissues. The most common localization of these rather rare neoplasms is the area of the large duodenal papilla of the duodenum.
Carcinoids: This type of malignant neoplasm, arising from epithelial cells, can be localized in any part of the large and small intestine. It is most often found in the appendix, ileum and rectum.
Lymphomas: a fairly rare type of small intestinal cancer, represented by lymphogranulomatosis and Hodgkin's disease.
Leiomyosarcoma: Tumors of this type are so large that they can be easily palpated through the abdominal wall. The large size of the tumor provokes intestinal obstruction, resulting in perforation of the intestinal wall and bleeding.