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Types of Cancer > Gastrointestinal Cancers > Small Intestine Cancers > Overview

Cancer of the Small Bowel

Neha Vapiwala, MD
Affiliation: The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Last Modified: March 8, 2008

What is the small bowel?

The small bowel, also known as the small intestine, is the portion of the digestive tract that connects the stomach and the large bowel, also called the colon (see colon cancer). There are three distinct parts of the small bowel: 1) the duodenum, 2) the jejunum and 3) the ileum. (Note: Although these three parts can all be grouped under the term "small bowel", there are several notable differences between them, such as blood supply, degree of attachment, surrounding structures, etc.)

In order to fit inside a person's body, the small and large intestines are folded up into a very compact form. However, if you were to unfold the small bowel and measure its full length, it would be about 15 to 20 feet long! In fact, the small bowel makes up about 75% of the entire digestive system.

What does the small bowel do?

The small bowel plays a critical role in the break down and absorption of food, so that important vitamins, minerals and nutrients can be absorbed into the body.

How common is small bowel cancer?

Surprisingly, despite the amazingly long length of the small bowel compared to the rest of the digestive tract, cancer of the small bowel is very rare. This includes either cancers starting in the bowel or cancers spreading there from another body site. Despite comprising 75% of the digestive tract and 90% of the surface of the digestive tract, only 2% of all bowel cancers occur in the small bowel and they represent about 0.5% of all cancers diagnosed in the U.S. This equates to about 5,600 new cases annually and there are approximately 1,100 deaths from small bowel cancer a year. Up to 25% of small bowel tumors present concurrently with tumors in other parts of the body such as the colon or breast.