Carcinoma of the small intestine in Crohn's disease: occurrence in a bypassed loop

The question of whether chronic inflammatory disease of the bowel (Crohn's disease) predisposes to the development of carcinoma remains unsettled. Chronic cicatrizing inflammation of the bowel, changes in composition of bowel contents, depressed immunologic response, and slow transit or stagnation of potentially carcinogenic substances in excluded or bypassed loops of diseased bowel may be contributory factors. This case report deals with a patient of 52 with Crohn's disease of small intestine, who developed adenocarcinoma in a previously bypassed loop of severely diseased proximal small bowel.