Prognostic factors in resected primary small bowel tumors.

We report a retrospective analysis of 71 patients, operated for primary small bowel tumors (SBT): 47 malignant (66.2%) and 24 benign (33.8%) tumors. Of the malignant tumors, adenocarcinomas predominated (38.3%), followed by neuroendocrine tumors (31.9%), Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) (12.8%), leiomyosarcomas (10.6%) and other rare entities (6.4%). Morbidity of surgical treatment was 16. 9%, 30-day mortality 7%. The estimated 5-year survival rate in malignant lesions was 31.8%. Univariate analysis identified the presence of distant metastasis and the resection status (R status) as prognostic factors (p = 0.034 and p = 0.001). There was no influence of T, N status or grading on survival. A complete macroscopic and microscopic tumor resection has to be the aim of any curative surgical approach in patients with SBT.