Small Intestine: Adenocarcinoma
Adenocarcinoma is the second most common nonduodenal small bowel tumor. Small bowel adenocarcinoma has risk factors similar to those of colorectal adenocarcinoma but is rarer and less well understood. Diagnosis relies on advanced imaging techniques as well as endoscopy or enteroscopy for tissue diagnosis. Aggressive biology and vague symptoms in early disease cause a majority of patients to present with late-stage disease. Adenocarcinomas with lymph node involvement should be treated with resection and systemic chemotherapy. In contrast, systemic chemotherapy alone should be employed in cases with distant metastases unless the primary tumor is bleeding, perforated, or causing a bowel obstruction. This review contains 4 figures, 5 tables and 17 references Key words: adenocarcinoma, chemotherapy, enteroscopy, hereditary syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, lymph node, mesentery, small bowel