[Primary adenocarcinoma of the small intestine].

Three patients, a woman aged 46 years and two men aged 81 and 62 years, presented with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and/or weight loss. A small intestine follow-through series revealed a significant stenosis in all 3 patients. A laparotomic partial resection of the affected jejunum and corresponding mesentery was performed. A primary adenocarcinoma of the small intestine was diagnosed; pathology revealed that the resections were radical, and pT3N0, pT2N0 and pT3N0 stage tumours respectively. The first patient underwent a repeat operation four months later due to similar complaints caused by a tumour recurrence; fifteen months later she died from recurrent disease. The second patient was disease-free 3 years after surgery. In the third patient, liver and peritoneal metastases developed 16 months after surgery; he died 10 months after palliative chemotherapy had been initiated. Adenocarcinoma of the small intestine is a rare disease and patients often present late with aspecific complaints. This, combined with the fact that these tumours tend to follow an aggressive course, results in a poor five-year survival rate of 10-35%. Surgery is the only curative treatment currently available. A greater awareness of this type of tumour is needed for treatment results to improve.