Small intestine cancer (patient information)
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What is Small intestine cancer
Small intestine cancer is a rare digestive tract cancer in the United States. It occurs in the small intestine which is responsible for digesting and absorbing the food you eat and then transporting the food debris to large intestine. Frequent symptoms are abdominal pain or lumps, weight loss for no reason or blood in the stool. It can be diagnosed by image tests. Surgery is the most common treatment. Additional options include chemotherapy, radiation or a combination.
How do I know if I have Small intestine cancer and what are the symptoms of Small intestine cancer?
Early stomach cancer does not make any symptoms. When the cancer grows larger, people may notice one or more symptoms as the following:
- abdominal discomfort or pain: It is relatively mild pain or no pain may be present with life-threatening condition. With the development of the cancer, abdominal pain may be persistent.
- weight loss: This is because of the consumption of the cancer.
- weakness and fatigue: The reason is also because the cancer wastes your energy.
Other health problems may also cause these symptoms. Only a doctor can tell for sure. A person with any of these symptoms should tell the doctor so that problems can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible
Who is at risk for Small intestine cancer?
There are some factors may increase the risk of acquiring small intestine cancer potentially. These risk factors are outlined in the table below:
- Crohns disease: Crohns disease is a kind of immune system disease in small intestine. This disease can affect any part of the small intestine, especially in the ileum. Patients with this problem have a risk of 28 times higher than normal to develope cancer.
- Celiac disease: This can also known as celiac sprue and gluten-sensitive enteropathy. As an immune system disease, the body makes antibodies that attack the lining of the intestines. Clinical survey show that patients with celiac disease have an increased risk of small intestine cancers.
- Some inherited causes such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) and cystic fibrosis (CF)
- Smoking and alcohol abuse
- Age: Small intestinal cancer becomes more common as people get older.
- Gender: Men have higher risk than women to develope small intestine cancer.
How to know you have Small intestine cancer?
When to seek urgent medical care
Treatment options
Diseases with similar symptoms
Where to find medical care for Small intestine cancer
Prevention of Small intestine cancer
Epidemiology data show the following intervention may help to reduce your risk of small intestine cancer
- Treatment celiac disease ,Crohns disease and inherited causes early.
- Quitting smoking and alcohol abuse