Malignant tumours of the small bowel.

Early diagnosis of small intestinal cancers provides the best probability of cure. The astute clinician will include these tumours in the differential diagnosis when vague or non-specific abdominal complaints occur and a more common cause is not discovered. Failure to evaluate the small bowel, which is a blind spot to routine endoscopic and radiological diagnostic tests, constitutes a common error when confronted with occult gastrointestinal blood loss and normal upper and lower gastrointestinal examination. Surgical resection remains the cornerstone of therapy for these malignancies. Advances in effective chemotherapy for large bowel carcinoma may have an impact on the management of small intestinal adenocarcinomas. Substantial palliation can be offered to the patient with metastatic carcinoid tumour, but the long-term outlook for these patients remains poor. Early stage lymphomas of the intestine are readily treated by combined modality therapy while advanced stage disease remains resistant to curative management. The patient prognosis for a small bowel sarcoma is largely dependent on the tumour grade. A high index of suspicion to improve tumour detection and better treatments of tumours with the same histology at other anatomic sites should enhance the management and outcome of patients with small intestinal malignancies.