Professor Hagit Tulchinskyleading colorectal surgeon
At the Top Ihilov Medical Center, the percentage of successfully treated patients with small intestine cancer is significantly higher than the global average. The specialists at Top Ihilov take pride in their achievements and work to improve these indicators. Tumours of the intestine are removed by leading Israeli surgeons, and non-surgical treatment is conducted using the latest medications.
Treatment of Small Intestine Cancer: Best Indicators in Israel at the Top Ihilov Clinic
The preferred method for treating small intestine cancer is always surgical removal of the focus. The mobility of the small intestine allows for effective radical surgical interventions with complete removal of the tumour within unchanged tissues. Typically, a portion of the omentum along with lymph nodes is also excised due to the high risk of affecting these lymph nodes.
During the operation, special new suturing instruments and devices are used to restore intestinal patency, significantly reducing the time of surgical assistance, minimizing intestinal trauma, thus avoiding complications in the postoperative period. If necessary, a fragment of the intestine is removed along with the tumour, but this does not threaten the patient's condition or affect the functionality of the small intestine.
In cases where the disease is in an advanced state, with deep invasions into neighboring organs, multiple metastases, or in patients with dangerous comorbidities, resection of the intestinal segment is not performed. Such patients undergo palliative surgery with the creation of bypass anastomoses to restore intestinal patency and alleviate the patient's condition. Unaffected loops of the intestine are connected to each other, allowing the contents not to stagnate in the affected area.
At the Top Ihilov clinic, patients undergo a course of chemotherapy simultaneously with surgical treatment. The oncological surgeons of the clinic consider their goal to be the cure of this dangerous disease, but when this is not achievable, they do everything possible to prolong and alleviate the patient's condition.
Early Diagnosis at the Top Ihilov Clinic
Although small intestine cancer is a rare disease (occurring in 2% of cancer patients), it poses a threat to patients' lives and is difficult to diagnose. Causes of cell transformation into malignant ones may include: intestinal polyposis, chronic inflammatory processes, constant contact with toxic substances, and frequent constipation. Risk factors include smoking and alcohol abuse. Men are more frequently affected, and the incidence of the disease increases with age, particularly among retired men.
Diagnosis of small intestine pathologies is complicated due to anatomical features: length and convolutions. However, the Top Ihilov Medical Center employs a range of methods, and a comprehensive approach to determining the disease and identifying malignant tumours guarantees an accurate and reliable diagnosis. For this purpose, the following are widely used:
- nuclear magnetic resonance imaging;
- computed tomography;
- contrast angiography (study of the abdominal vessels);
- laparoscopy (endoscopic examination of the abdominal cavity), during which a biopsy of the neoplasm is performed.
Simultaneously with the targeted examination of the intestine, the patient undergoes a series of diagnostic procedures to examine all internal organs for the detection of metastases. A general and biochemical blood test is mandatory. Characteristic signs of small intestine cancer include high ESR, presence of tumour markers, and low protein levels. After receiving the examination results, the patient is referred to the inpatient surgical department for hospitalization and further treatment.
Cost of Small Intestine Cancer Treatment
The cost of small intestine cancer treatment is individual for each specific case and greatly depends on the extent of disease spread. In any case, the cost of treatment in Israeli clinics is much more advantageous than in cancer centers in the European Union or the United States. Typically, savings can reach 25-45%. This occurs because the Israeli government provides financial support to domestic medical institutions and regulates prices for the medical services they offer.