title: Primary small bowel malignancies: single-center results of three decades.
abstract: We highlight one medical center's experiences with primary malignancies of the small bowel. During a 27-year period, 79 patients were treated for small bowel tumors. Of these, 15 (20%) were lost to follow-up; thus, 64 patients were reviewed retrospectively with emphasis on histological distribution and their topography, perioperative complications, overall survival, and prognostic factors. In our 64-patient series, 33 (51.6%) presented with adenocarcinoma; 10 (15.5%), lymphoma; 8 (12.1%), leiomyosarcoma; 5 (7.6%), neurogenic tumor; 2 (3%), unclassified carcinoma; 5 (7.6%), other types of sarcoma; and 1 patient presented with synchronous adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. Of all patients, 30 (46.9%) were curatively treated, whereas 34 (53.1%) underwent palliative procedures. Hospital lethality was 9.4% and mainly occurred in patients operated on under emergency circumstances. Reoperation rate was 29.7%. The observation period lasted at least five years or until death; three patients were alive less than five years postoperatively. Cumulative five-year survival rate was 22.5% in the adenocarcinoma group, 33.3% in the lymphoma group, 33.3% in the leiomyosarcoma group, and 22.2% in patients with other tumors. The uncharacteristic symptoms presented by patients suffering from small intestinal malignancies make early diagnosis difficult. Therefore, especially in patients with long-standing bowel diseases, malignancy should be considered. Early diagnosis and surgical treatment lead to a good prognosis as shown by our study.
authors.affiliation: University Clinic of Surgery, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ojha
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zacherl
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheuba
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jakesz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wenzl
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology*; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate