Small intestine cancer develops due to the formation of cancer cells in the tissues of the small intestine. Although it is a rare disease, it can still occur due to various risk factors.
There are five types of small intestine cancer. These types are lymphoma, adenocarcinoma, sarcoma, carcinoid tumors, and gastrointestinal stromal tumor.
It is pertinent to note that having a risk factor, which refers to anything that heightens the risk of cancer, doesn’t mean that you will get cancer eventually. Similarly, not having a risk factor doesn’t mean that you are off the hook. Following are the risk factors for small intestine cancer.
- Eating a high-fat diet
- Having celiac disease
- Having Crohn’s disease
- Having familial adenomatous polyposis
Signs and symptoms of small intestine cancer
Many signs and symptoms can indicate that you have small intestine cancer. You may want to speak with your doctor if you notice any of these symptoms. These signs may include the following.
- Pain in the middle of the abdomen
- Unexplained weight loss
- A lump in the abdomen
- Traces of blood in the stool
Tests to detect, diagnose, and stage small intestine cancer
Any procedure that takes pictures of the small intestine and the area around it can help detect and diagnose small intestine cancer. These procedures also let you know how much the disease has spread. The procedure that helps your doctor determine whether and how much cancer has spread around the small intestine is known as staging.
Your doctor will need to determine the type of cancer and see whether surgery is the right treatment option before formulating a treatment plan. Tests that your doctor performs to detect, diagnose, and stage cancer are usually done at the same time. Here are the tests and procedures that your doctor may run in this regard.
- Your doctor will check your health by examining general signs, such as lumps or anything that look out of the ordinary. This procedure also includes an analysis of the patient’s health history and habits.
- Next, the doctor will recommend some blood tests to measure the number of substances that may indicate the presence or effects of cancer.
- Another test run by taking a blood sample is the liver function test. The presence of cancers usually results in the liver releasing a few substances in the blood.
- Your doctor may want to look into your abdominal organs. The test run for this purpose is known as endoscopy. The traditional approach of endoscopy involves the insertion of a thin tube into the abdominal organs through your mouth. This tube has a camera on the end that has to go inside. Another way to conduct an endoscopy is to ingest a capsule with a camera. This capsule is connected to the diagnostic systems wirelessly. It travels through the digestive tract, giving a view of the inside of the organs.
- Your doctor may want to get some tissues from the infected area. The process of taking out those tissues is known as a biopsy.
Spreading of cancer
This cancer can spread to nearby organs as well as the distant organs of the body. When cancer spreads to the lymph vessels, it causes cancer in the nearby lymph nodes. When it spread to the blood veins, it may spread to distant organs of the body.
Treatment options
The treatment options will depend on the location and staging of the cancer. Your doctor will determine which treatment option is right for you.
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