Small Intestine Cancer (DRAFT)

Small intestine cancer is one of the rarest types of cancer affecting your gastrointestinal tract. It is among the least common cancers impacting the digestive system, making up only 3% of gastrointestinal cancers in the United States.

SmallIntestineCancerAD Images SQUARECustomized Care for Small Intestine Cancer Treatment

Your team at Phoebe Cancer Center will create a treatment plan based on the latest findings of medical research, and your personal needs and preferences. Our treatment program uses a multi-disciplinary team approach to customized cancer care, helping build goals, set expectations, and explain any potential side effects of available treatments.

 

Types of Small Intestine Cancers We Treat:

The different types of small intestine cancer are classified based on the type of cells where the cancer starts.

  • Carcinoid tumors start in your neuroendocrine cells. These cells help your body produce hormones and control the release of digestive juices in your small intestine. A little less than half of small intestine cancer cases involve carcinoid tumors.
  • Adenocarcinomas start in your glandular epithelial cells (glands) lining your small intestine. About one-third of small intestine cancer cases are adenocarcinomas.
  • Sarcomas start in connective tissues like your cartilage or muscle. The most common type of sarcoma that affects your small intestine is called a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Previously, these tumors were called leiomyosarcomas.
  • Lymphomastarts in cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell found in your lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system is an essential part of your immune system that helps your body fight off abnormal cells or germs that may make you sick.

Treatment

The primary treatment for small intestine cancer is surgery, which may involve:

  • Resection: The surgeon might excise portions of the small intestine and adjacent organs if cancer has spread there.
  • Bypass: If a tumor obstructing the intestine cannot be removed, bypass surgery can reroute food around it.

Other forms of treating small intestine cancer include chemotherapy, radiation, somatostatin analogs, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or enrolling in clinical trials for the latest in treatment procedures.

Our Team Approach

The specialists that make up your expert care team at Phoebe Cancer Center will guide you through treatment with a plan personalized to your specific needs. Our full team approach to cancer care, means providing a highly collaborative effort to deliver comprehensive cancer care to our cancer patients. This multidisciplinary approach engages a range of providers across our care community, to ensure we look at every angle for each patients’ unique case.

For more information, please call:
229-312-7124

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Cancer Support Group

At times, we just need to be with a group of people who truly understand the concerns and celebrations we face on our cancer journey.

Our Survivorship Support Group generally meets on the 1st Thursday of the month at noon.

Please call 229-312-1000 to confirm this month’s schedule or to get more information about our cancer support groups.