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Summary
Your small intestine is part of your digestive system. It is a long tube that connects your stomach to your large intestine. Intestinal cancer is rare, but eating a high-fat diet or having Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or a history of colonic polyps can increase your risk.
Possible signs of small intestine cancer include:
- Abdominal pain
- Weight loss for no reason
- Blood in the stool
- A lump in the abdomen
Imaging tests that create pictures of the small intestine and the area around it can help diagnose intestinal cancer and show whether it has spread.
Surgery is the most common treatment. Additional options include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination.
NIH: National Cancer Institute
Diagnosis and Tests
- Capsule Endoscopy (American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) Also in Spanish
- Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Stages and Other Prognostic Factors (American Cancer Society)
- Small Intestine Cancer (Adenocarcinoma) Stages (American Cancer Society)
- Stages of Small Intestine Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
- Tests for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (American Cancer Society)
- Tests for Small Intestine Cancer (Adenocarcinoma) (American Cancer Society)
- Upper GI Endoscopy (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
- Upper GI Series (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Risk Factors (American Cancer Society)
- Risk Factors for Small Intestine Cancer (Adenocarcinoma)? (American Cancer Society)
Treatments and Therapies
- Drugs Approved for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (National Cancer Institute)
- Small bowel resection - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Small Intestine Cancer Treatment (National Cancer Institute)
- Treating Small Intestine Cancer (Adenocarcinoma) (American Cancer Society)
- Treatment Option Overview (Small Intestine Cancer) (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
Living With
- Living as a Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Survivor (American Cancer Society)
- Living as a Small Intestine Cancer Survivor (American Cancer Society)
Genetics
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumor: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- What Causes Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors? (American Cancer Society)
Statistics and Research
- Cancer Statistics: Small Intestine Cancer (National Cancer Institute)
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Duodenal Neoplasms (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Accurate prediction of the lymph node status in ampullary duodenal carcinoma:...
- Article: Effectiveness of endoscopic papillectomy with stent placement in pancreatic and bile...
- Article: A method of "Noninjecting Resection using Bipolar Soft coagulation mode; NIRBS"...
- Intestinal Cancer -- see more articles
Reference Desk
- Dictionary of Cancer Terms (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
Find an Expert
- American Cancer Society
- Choosing a Cancer Doctor (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
- National Cancer Institute Also in Spanish
- Organizations that Offer Cancer Support Services (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
Children
- Childhood Gastrointestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors Treatment (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
- Childhood Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Treatment (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Abdominal radiation - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- After chemotherapy - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Enteroscopy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Radiation enteritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Small bowel resection (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Small bowel resection - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish