New NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma
offer trustworthy, vetted information for a frequently
misunderstood cancer type.
PLYMOUTH
MEETING, Pa., May 20, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer
Network® (NCCN®) today announced publication
of new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Small Bowel
Adenocarcinoma. This free resource for people facing cancer and
caregivers is focused on a rare cancer type that typically occurs
in the small intestine, where routine screening is impossible, even
for high-risk individuals. The small amount of patient information
that exists for this cancer type tends to combine it with other
cancers of the small intestine (such as sarcomas, neuroendocrine
tumors, or lymphomas) despite very different treatment approaches
and results.
"This new guidance helps people with small
bowel adenocarcinoma understand current treatment standards."
The NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma
are now available for free download at
NCCN.org/patientguidelines, thanks to funding from
the NCCN Foundation®.
"People with rare diseases like small bowel cancer often have a
difficult time finding trustworthy and thorough information about
what they are going through," said Michael Sapienza, CEO, Colorectal Cancer
Alliance. "We appreciate NCCN's commitment to sharing
explanations of the latest evidence and expert consensus for common
colon and rectal cancers and also for rarer cancers, like those
involving the small intestine. This new guidance helps people with
small bowel adenocarcinoma understand current treatment standards
and know what questions to ask their doctor in order to make more
informed decisions about their care."
The NCCN Guidelines for Patients are based on the gold standard
NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN
Guidelines®) used by health care providers worldwide to
determine the best cancer treatment options for the best results.
The patient versions offer the same evidence-based expert consensus
recommendations in lay terms. including a helpful glossary,
illustrations, and suggested questions to ask. They have won
numerous awards for empowering people with cancer and their
caregivers and are highly ranked for trustworthiness, according to
independent studies.
"I'm excited to have information out there for the patients that
has been vetted by subject matter experts. There's not much for
people with this disease, and everything helps," said
Katrina Pedersen, MD, MS, Mayo
Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center (previously with Siteman Cancer
Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine), a
Member of the NCCN Guidelines® Panel for
Colon/Rectal/Anal Cancers and Small Intestine Adenocarcinoma, who
played a key role in advocating for the creation of the clinical
guidelines for small bowel adenocarcinoma. "I appreciate NCCN's
commitment to filling knowledge gaps in the rare disease space. I
also hope these guidelines will help to raise awareness about small
bowel adenocarcinoma and how much more we hope to learn about it in
the future."
Among the things that are known:
- Treatment differs from that for colon or rectal cancer in
several ways, with the role of immunotherapy highlighted for
patients with specific genomic profiles.
- For local (stage I–III) disease, the primary treatment involves
surgery, including removal of nearby lymph nodes.
- Most metastatic patients are treated with systemic
therapy.
- Small bowel adenocarcinoma is more common in people with
Lynch syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease.
"Patients may not be aware that they could have a hereditary
risk," explained Al B. Benson,
III, MD, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of
Northwestern University, Chair of the
NCCN Guidelines Panel for Colon/Rectal/Anal Cancers and Small
Intestine Adenocarcinoma and Member of the NCCN Foundation Board of
Directors. "That is important not only for the individual who
has the disease, but it can also impact their relatives and
offspring. If someone with small bowel adenocarcinoma has been
demonstrated to have inherited risk, we want to make sure family
members get genetic counseling and testing to see if they carry the
same risk."
NCCN Guidelines for Patients already exist for some of the other
cancer types that are found in the intestines, including colon and
rectal cancers, neuroendocrine tumors, and gastrointestinal stromal
tumors (GIST). There are also prevention and supportive care guides
covering topics like colorectal cancer screening and immunotherapy
side effects.
Visit NCCN.org/patientresources to learn more about all of the
different ways that NCCN and the NCCN Foundation help to inform and
empower people facing cancer and their caregivers.
About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The
National Comprehensive Cancer Network®
(NCCN®) is a not-for-profit alliance of
leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research,
and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating
quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care so all
patients can live better lives. The NCCN Clinical Practice
Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) provide
transparent, evidence-based, expert consensus recommendations for
cancer treatment, prevention, and supportive services; they are the
recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer
management and the most thorough and frequently-updated clinical
practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. The NCCN
Guidelines for Patients® provide expert cancer treatment
information to inform and empower patients and caregivers, through
support from the NCCN Foundation®. NCCN also
advances continuing education, global initiatives, policy, and
research collaboration and publication in oncology. Visit
NCCN.org for more information.
About the NCCN Foundation
The NCCN Foundation empowers
people with cancer and their caregivers by delivering unbiased
expert guidance from the world's leading cancer experts through the
library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients® and other
patient education resources. The NCCN Foundation is also committed
to advancing cancer treatment by funding the nation's promising
young investigators at the forefront of cancer research. For more
information about the NCCN Foundation,
visit nccnfoundation.org.
Media Contact:
Rachel
Darwin
267-622-6624
darwin@nccn.org
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SOURCE National Comprehensive Cancer Network