As in other gastrointestinal cancers, the standard treatment is to remove the tumor surgically whenever possible.
Surgery The best chance for cure is offered by the surgical removal of a part of the small
bowel with a wide margin around the tumor, along with the attached tissues supporting the bowel (mesentery) and its lymphatic drainage. If this cannot be done, surgical bypass and radiation can be considered as palliative measures for residual disease.
Radiation The bowel is extremely sensitive to radiation, which limits the usefulness of this therapy.
It may be poorly tolerated and may result in weakness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea with small bowel inflammation . It may lead to occasional remissions for sarcomas, but is usually used for relief of pain and obstructions. Small bowel lymphomas are highly responsive to radiation.
Radiation can complement surgery and is often recommended in lymphomas. Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) to the tumor or the tumor bed and area at risk may be done, because normal tissues can be moved aside and protected.
Chemotherapy Like radiotherapy, chemotherapy is a less effective therapy than surgery and is
recommended only for disease that can't be surgically removed or for metastases.
