Rare but real: management of small bowel adenocarcinoma

Despite representing the longest segment of the alimentary tract, small bowel adenocarcinomas are rare. The diagnosis of small bowel adenocarcinoma is frequently delayed because of the nonspecific clinical symptoms and the limitations of small bowel imaging. The majority of patients will present with either lymph node or distant metastatic disease. Though the role of adjuvant therapy for resected small bowel adenocarcinoma is unclear, recent research efforts have led to an improvement in our management of advanced disease. Prospective phase II studies have successfully enrolled patients with this rare tumor type and have established the combination of a fluoropyrimidine and oxaliplatin as the most appropriate front-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced disease. Currently, five prospective clinical trials have been designed for patients with small bowel adenocarcinoma and enrollment to these clinical trials should be encouraged.