Small intestine cancer is less common than other tumor diseases. For example, among cancer diseases in the digestive system, small intestine cancer accounts for 2% of cases in patients. In most cases, cancer cells form in the mucous membrane, deforming tissues and penetrating into the duodenum. Medical practice identifies such formations as sarcoma, adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, and carcinoid.
Causes
Cancerous tumors in the small intestine are primarily caused by the appearance of polyps in the intestinal mucosa in a number of cases. Such formations can arise randomly and independently; a genetically determined disease – polyposis – can also be the cause of this pathology. Among exogenous causes, the influence of harmful carcinogens that enter the human body and the intestine with food is highlighted. Smoking, alcohol, gastrointestinal diseases, peptic ulcer disease, genetic pathological processes, as well as cancers of other organs that metastasize to the intestine – all these factors can often also be the cause of this disease.
Diagnosis of Small Intestine Cancer in Israel
Patients diagnosed with small intestine cancer usually seek medical centers at later stages of tumor development. In most cases, the disease begins almost asymptomatically, and vaguely expressed malaise is ignored by the individual.
The most characteristic symptoms of this ailment include the following disorders:
- vomiting, nausea;
- abdominal bloating;
- cramping pain in the lower abdomen and intestine;
- loss of appetite and weight loss;
- intestinal bleeding;
- intestinal obstruction
To diagnose small intestine cancer, specialists at Ichilov clinic have long been successfully using highly accurate and effective methods for examining the intestine.
Patients at the clinic are provided with the following types of procedures and examinations:
- Biochemical blood test and general;
- Stool and urine analysis;
- Colonoscopy (examination of the intestine using a thin tube with a special camera and lighting. This method allows monitoring of the intestine and taking tissue samples)
- Endoscopy of the digestive organs along with biopsy;
- Contrast angiography (using the introduction of a contrast agent that highlights the affected areas);
- CT;
- Magnetic resonance imaging;
- mini-capsule method (swallowing a video capsule that records the state of the intestine for a day, the obtained information is analyzed by a doctor).
Treatment of Small Intestine Cancer in Israel
Treatment of this disease by specialists at Ichilov clinic is conducted using the latest technologies and equipment. Treatment methods for cancer tumors are constantly evolving, being updated and developed by leading specialists in the field of medicine. In the early stages of small intestine cancer, patients at Ichilov are prescribed pharmacological treatment, but traditionally, the most effective method of impacting tumors is surgical intervention.
Depending on the clinical case, the following main types of surgeries are provided to the patient at Ichilov clinic:
- Laparoscopy (this method allows the direct removal of the tumor through a small incision);
- Resection of affected segments of the small intestine;
- Surgery to restore narrowed sections of the intestine;
- Palliative surgeries with the creation of anastomoses between healthy sections of the intestine (the most gentle method, allowing the progression of the tumor to be halted);