Small bowel neoplasia in coeliac disease.

Abstract

There is an increased risk of small bowel adenocarcinoma in patients with coeliac disease compared with the normal population. It has been suggested that adenocarcinoma of the small intestine in coeliac disease arises through an adenoma-carcinoma sequence but there has been only one reported case of a small bowel adenoma in a patient with coeliac disease. We report three additional cases of a small bowel adenoma in the setting of coeliac disease. In addition, four cases of small bowel adenocarcinoma are also reported, one of which was found adjacent to a jejunal villous adenoma. These cases emphasise the risk of the development of small bowel neoplasia for patients with coeliac disease and support the concept that small bowel adenocarcinoma in coeliac disease arises from adenomas.