Tumors may come back in the small bowel after treatment or may metastasize from cancers arising elsewhere, especially cancers of the colon, kidney, pancreas or stomach, which may extend directly into the small bowel. Symptoms include intestinal obstruction or bleeding from the tumor .
• If possible, surgery may be attempted for locally recurrent small intestine cancer, with removal of the lymph
nodes if that is appropriate. Clinical trials are now evaluating ways of improving local control, such as the use
of radiation therapy with radiosensitizers with or without chemotherapy .
• There is no standard chemotherapy for recurrent metastatic adenocarcinoma or leiomyosarcoma of the small
intestine. Patients may be considered candidates for standard combination chemotherapy programs, or clinical
trials evaluating the use of new anticancer drugs or biologicals in Phase I or Phase II trials.
