An increased evidence of adenocarcinoma of the small intestine has been established with which of the following conditions?

b. Crohn’s disease

The incidence of adenocarcinoma of the small bowel is surprisingly low when compared to that of colon carcinoma when considering the vast length and surface area of the small intestine. The relative infrequency of these tumors has limited our knowledge of pathogenic factors. It appears, however, that the polyp-to-cancer sequence is not well established for simple tubular adenomas of the small intestine. Peutz-Jegher Syndrome is an inherited syndrome which is associated with multiple small intestinal polyps. These polyps are hamartomas with progression of dysplasia to carcinoma felt not to be a major concern. The chronic inflammatory changes of Crohn’s disease appears to predispose to the development of adenocarcinoma, thereby increasing the risk to 100 times that of the general population. There is no known association of carcinoma of the colon and small intestine.