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Small-bowel tumors account for 1 to 5% of GI tumors (under 9000 cases in the US annually).
Benign tumors include leiomyomas, lipomas, neurofibromas, and fibromas. All may cause abdominal distention, pain, bleeding, diarrhea, and, if obstruction develops, vomiting. Polyps are not as common as in the colon.
Adenocarcinoma, a malignant tumor, is uncommon. Usually it arises in the duodenum or proximal jejunum and causes minimal symptoms. In patients with Crohn disease, the tumors tend to occur distally and in bypassed or inflamed loops of bowel; adenocarcinoma occurs more often in Crohn disease of the small bowel than in Crohn disease of the colon.
Primary malignant lymphoma (see Lymphomas) arising in the ileum may cause a long, rigid segment. Small-bowel lymphomas arise often in long-standing untreated celiac disease.
Carcinoid tumors (see Carcinoid Tumors) occur most often in the small bowel, particularly the ileum, and the appendix, and in these locations are often malignant. Multiple tumors occur in 50% of cases. Of those > 2 cm in diameter, 80% have metastasized locally or to the liver by the time of operation. About 30% of small-bowel carcinoids cause obstruction, pain, bleeding, or carcinoid syndrome. Treatment is surgical resection; repeat operations may be required.
Kaposi sarcoma (see Cancers of the Skin: Kaposi's Sarcoma), first described as a disease of elderly Jewish and Italian men, occurs in an aggressive form in Africans, transplant recipients, and AIDS patients, who have GI tract involvement 40 to 60% of the time. Lesions may occur anywhere in the GI tract but usually in the stomach, small bowel, or distal colon. GI lesions usually are asymptomatic, but bleeding, diarrhea, protein-losing enteropathy, and intussusception may occur. A second primary intestinal cancer occurs in ≤ 20% of patients; most often it is lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, or adenocarcinoma of the GI tract. Treatment depends on the cell type and location and extent of the lesions.
Diagnosis
Enteroclysis (sometimes CT enteroclysis) is probably the most common study for mass lesions of the small bowel. Push endoscopy of the small bowel with an enteroscope may be used to visualize and biopsy tumors. Capsule video endoscopy can help identify small-bowel lesions, particularly bleeding sites; a swallowed capsule transmits 2 images/sec to an external recorder. The original capsule is not useful in the stomach or colon because it tumbles in these larger organs; a colon capsule camera with better optics and illumination is under development for use in these larger-diameter organs.
Treatment
Treatment is surgical resection. Electrocautery, thermal obliteration, or laser phototherapy at the time of enteroscopy or surgery may be an alternative to resection.
Last full review/revision October 2012 by Elliot M. Livstone, MD
Content last modified November 2012
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