Primary tumor of the small intestine--analysis of 102 patients

102 patients with primary tumors of the small intestine proved by pathology in our hospital from 1964 to 1983 are reported. It made up 4% of primary gastrointestinal (GI) neoplasms during this period. Of the 102 patients, 32 were benign tumors, comprising 11.3% of all benign tumors of the GI tract. There were 70 malignant tumors, constituting 3.1% of all malignant tumors of the GI tract. Leiomyomas were very common in benign tumors while malignant lymphomas and carcinomas were predominant in malignant neoplasms. The main clinical manifestations were abdominal pain, mass, obstruction and GI hemorrhage. Eight patients were complicated with perforation, 6 of them were malignant tumors. Multiple lesions were found in 22 and 16 of them were malignant tumors. Only 29.3% of primary tumors of the small intestine could be demonstrated by barium X-ray examination. Correct diagnosis was made preoperatively in 13.7% of all patients. Resectability and operative mortality rates in malignant tumors were 70% and 12.9%, respectively, 62.3% of the patients were followed with an overall 5-year survival rate of 36.9% (malignant lymphoma 62.5% and leiomyosarcoma or carcinoma (18.2%). The 5-year survival rate was 43.8% after radical operation and 38.9% after palliative operation. The overall 10-year survival rate was 16.2%. One patient with lymphosarcoma is alive 21.5 years after operation. The reasons of the low incidence, the high misdiagnosis rate and the related aspects of diagnosis and treatment of this tumor are discussed.