Abstract
Primary small bowel cancer has a low incidence and is difficult to diagnose ; patients usually present at an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Between 1989 and 2008, 8 patients with primary small bowel cancer were treated at our hospital. Seven patients exhibited some symptoms. Tumors developed in the jejunum in 6 patients and in the ileum in 2 patients. Five patients were diagnosed with small bowel tumor preoperatively, while 3 patients were diagnosed on the basis of pathology results. All the patients had advanced cancer ; 6 patients underwent curative resection.
Histologically, 3 tumors had invaded the subserosa, 3 tumors had invaded the serosa, and 2 tumors had invaded other organs. Lymph node metastases were detected in 5 patients. The patients with lymph node metastases and those that did not undergo curative resection had poor prognosis ; we have not encountered any effective chemotherapeutic regiments for such cases.
