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Small Intestine (Bowel) Cancer

small intestine cancer symptoms

Small bowel cancer is a rare type of cancer that occurs in the small intestine. The small intestine is a long tubular organ that carries digested food between the stomach and the large intestine (colon). The small intestine is responsible for digesting and absorbing nutrients from food. It produces hormones that help digestion. The small intestine also plays a role in the body's germ-fighting immune system, as it contains cells that fight bacteria and viruses that enter the body through your mouth.

Types of small intestine cancer include adenocarcinomas, carcinoid tumours and neuroendocrine tumours including paraganglioma, sarcomas including lymphoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST).

What is Small Intestine (Bowel) Cancer?

Signs and symptoms of small intestine cancer are abdominal pain, yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), feeling unusually weak or tired, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, blood in the stool that may appear red or black, watery diarrhea, skin flushing. Click for detailed information!

In general, small intestine cancer begins when healthy cells in the small intestine develop changes (mutations) in their DNA.  Over time, cancer cells can grow and invade and destroy nearby normal tissues. And cancerous cells can spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.

Symptoms of Small Intestine Cancer

Assoc. Dr. Mutlu Ünver graduated from Ege University Faculty of Medicine. Mutlu Ünver, who completed his specialty training at Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, serves his patients in his own clinic.

The best cancer surgeon in Izmir

Assoc. Prof.

Mutlu Unver

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Izmir Small Intestine Cancer Surgery

Factors that may increase the risk of small intestine cancer include Gene mutations; the presence of a cancer in one or more second or third-degree relatives close to the first degree means that they may carry a genetic mutation. Examples include Lynch syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. Other bowel diseases; other diseases and conditions affecting the intestines can increase the risk of small intestine cancer, including Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease. Weakened immune system; if the body's germ-fighting immune system weakens, the risk of small bowel cancer may increase. Examples include people with HIV infection and those who take immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplantation. Click for detailed information!

Small Intestine Cancer Risk Factors

Small intestine cancers are difficult to diagnose. Therefore, people suspected of having small intestine cancer often undergo multiple tests and procedures to find or exclude cancer. Imaging tests used to diagnose small intestine cancer include: Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron emission tomography (PET). In addition to these methods, there may be some tests such as endoscopy that need to be performed to see the inside of your small intestine and take a tissue sample (pathology). Sometimes small bowel cancers are located in places that make them very difficult to see with other tests. In these cases, surgery may be recommended to examine the small intestine and surrounding area for signs of small intestine cancer. Click for detailed information!

Diagnosis of Small Intestine Cancer

The operation can be open (laparotomy) or closed (laparoscopy). The laparoscopic procedure (closed surgery) is performed through small incisions using special surgical instruments and a video camera. If the cancer affects a small part of the small intestine, only that part is removed and reconnected to the cut ends of the intestine.

 If small intestine cancer cannot be removed, a bypass can be performed to remove an obstruction in the small intestine. In this way, the patient's defecation problem is eliminated and some interventions are applied in terms of nutrition, and the conditions that may cause the general condition of the patient to become weak and reduce the comfort of the patient during the disease are tried to be eliminated by feeding methods other than the oral route. Click for detailed information!

Small Intestine Cancer Treatment

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