C17.9: Malignant neoplasm: Small intestine, unspecified

You have cancer of the small intestine.

The tissue in the body is made up of cells. With cancer, the cells multiply uncontrollably, which leads to a malignant neoplasm (abnormal growth of tissue) developing. The cancer cells can destroy the healthy tissue and spread throughout the body.

The small intestine is the longest section of the digestive tract. It consists of 3 sections. The 1st section begins immediately after the stomach and is called the duodenum. The gallbladder and the pancreas secrete the digestive juices in this section. The jejunum and ileum sections come next. The nutrients are absorbed into the blood from the food in the small intestine. The small intestine is followed by the large intestine.

You have small intestine cancer.

Please note: This ICD code may also derive from the ICD-O system. If this is the case, there are usually additional letters and numbers in addition to the code. It starts with the letter M, followed by 4 digits and then a slash. There is another digit after the slash.

If it is an ICD-O code, then this does not describe a malignant cancer in all cases. The last digit after the slash gives you more detailed information about this:

• /0 – The tumor is benign. Cells in a tissue multiply uncontrollably. However, they are not destroying the surrounding tissue and are also not spreading throughout the body.
• /1 – It is not known for sure whether the tumor is benign or malignant.
• /2 – It is an early form of cancer, a precancerous stage where the cells are altered and multiply uncontrollably. However, they are not yet spreading beyond a certain margin and cannot spread to other organs either.
• /3 – It is a malignant cancer. The cells in the affected tissue are altered and multiply uncontrollably. They can destroy the surrounding tissue and spread throughout the body.
• /6 – It is a metastasis. Cancer cells have spread from the originally affected site to a different site in the body and have further multiplied there.
• /9 – It is either a malignant cancer or a metastasis. The cells in the affected tissue are altered and multiply uncontrollably. However, it is impossible to say whether these cells derive originally from the affected site or have spread there from a different site in the body.