Small Bowel Cancer Statistics


What is small bowel cancer?

Small bowel cancer (also known as small intestine cancer) occurs when cells in the tissue of the small intestine grow and divide in an abnormal way. When cancer starts in another area of the body and spreads to the small bowel (intestine), it is referred to as secondary or metastatic cancer.

You can access further information about small bowel cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is small bowel cancer?

In 2022, 213 Victorians were diagnosed with small bowel cancer. Of these, there were 112 males and 101 females, representing 52.6% and 47.4% of the total Victorian small bowel cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, small bowel cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 2.1 per 100,000 males and 1.6 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of small bowel cancer is 67 years in males and 68 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 0.6% of all cancers diagnosed and 0.5% of all cancer-related deaths in 2022, small bowel cancer was the 27th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 27th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.


Figure 1: Distribution of small bowel cancer incidence in 2022, by sex within age groups
6 3 14 6 19 17 32 26 26 35 15 14 0 10 20 30 Under 40 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ Age at diagnosis (years) Number of diagnoses in 2022 Male Female

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


Figure 2: Distribution of small bowel cancer incidence in 2022, compared to the distribution of the Victorian population in 2022, by 5-year age brackets
0% 4% 8% 12% 16% Percentage of population Population distribution by age 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85+ -0.050 -0.025 0.000 0.025 0.050 0% 4% 8% 12% 16% Percentage of population Small bowel cancer distribution by age

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)

Small bowel cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused small bowel cancers among all cases. Most small bowel cancer tumours, 55.1%, present as Neuroendocrine tumours.


Figure 4: Distribution of small bowel cancer morphologies between 2013-2022
55.1%28.6%9.74%4.32%2.25%
NeuroendocrineAdenocarcinomaGastrointestinal stromal sarcomaUnspecified cell typeOther cell types

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


Small bowel cancer subtypes

Figure 5 provides a breakdown of small bowel cancers by subsite location in 2022. Most (31.9%) are found in the Ileum.


Figure 5: Distribution of small bowel cancer subsites in 2022
31.9%29.1%29.1%8.92%0.939%
IleumDuodenumUnspecified siteJejunumOther sites

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)

Geographical variance in small bowel cancer by local government area

Figure 6 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of small bowel cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of small bowel cancer.


Figure 6: Variation in the incidence of small bowel cancer for the period 2018-2022, by location of residence in Victoria

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


Small bowel cancer in people born overseas

Figure 7 shows the age standardised incidence rates of small bowel cancers in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate for small bowel cancers was 4.2 for males born in the South and Central America region and the lowest rate of 0.4 was observed in males born in the North-East Asia region. The highest age standardised incidence rate of small bowel cancers was 2.2 for females born in the North America region and the lowest rate of 0 was observed in females born in the South and Central America region.


Figure 7: Age standardised incidence rates and 95% confidence intervals for small bowel cancer in Victorians born in Australia compared to Victorians born in other countries for the period 2017-2021, by sex
020406080100North AmericaSouth and Central AmericaAfricaOther EuropeMiddle East and North AfricaSouthern EuropeUK and IrelandNorth-East AsiaSouth-East AsiaSouthern and Central AsiaAustralia and New Zealand
MaleAge standardised incidence rate (per 100,000)

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


0204060North AmericaSouth and Central AmericaAfricaOther EuropeMiddle East and North AfricaSouthern EuropeUK and IrelandNorth-East AsiaSouth-East AsiaSouthern and Central AsiaAustralia and New Zealand
FemaleAge standardised incidence rate (per 100,000)

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)



Small bowel cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for small bowel cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for small bowel cancer between 1982-1986 and 2017-2021 from 49% to 68%.

Figure 8: Trend in five year relative survival following diagnosis of small bowel cancer in five year brackets, from the period 1982-1986 to 2017-2021
0 20 40 60 80 100 1982-1986 1987-1991 1992-1996 1997-2001 2002-2006 2007-2011 2012-2016 2017-2021 Year 5-year relative survival (%) Five-year relative survival across all cancers

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)

This webpage was last updated in July 2024

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