Small bowel adenocarcinoma: new horizon for medical treatment

Small bowel adenocarcinomas (SBA) are rare tumors with a poor prognosis with a rising incidence in recent decades. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for localized disease. In fact, owing to the lack of prospective data supporting its optimal management, SBA has historically been treated in the same way as colorectal cancer (CRC). However, recent genetic and molecular data suggest a distinct profile from other gastrointestinal malignancies and support a more nuanced approach to its management. This review aimed to reflect the state-of-the-art in the clinical management of early stage and advanced disease and recent discoveries of potentially actionable genetic alterations or pathways along with ongoing clinical trials, which will hopefully amplify the treatment armaments of this orphan disease in the foreseeable future.