Stomach
Cancer (also called "Gastric Cancer") Introduction: This
cancer is very common in Japan, Iceland and Chile, where it is one of the most
common causes of death. In the U.S. it is the 7th most common cause of death and
occurs at a rate of about 8 new cases per 100,000 population per year. It can
develop out of polyps that develop inside the lining of the stomach. But
it may also develop in a chronic gastric ulcer, which may be made chronic by the
bacterium Helicobacter pylori(=H. pylori). Symptoms: Often there are no symptoms in the beginning of
the disease, although subtle symptoms may be present and overlooked. For instance,
a feeling of fullness after a full meal may point to a stomach cancer developing
in the gastric outlet. Swallowing problems (=dysphagia) due to a stomach cancer
at the entrance of the stomach should trigger the physician to arrange for an
endoscopy of the patient by a gastroenterologist or surgeon. Weight loss
is a cardinal sign of cancer, but particularly of stomach cancer and needs to
be taken extremely serious. Of course, there are always other causes such as depression
or diabetes, but a good start is to see your physician to have things checked
out. There might be a lassitude because of a chronic blood loss from a chronically
bleeding ulcer that has degenerated at the margins into stomach cancer. This blood
loss is often the reason for iron deficiency anemia. Late signs of stomach
cancer are a palpable mass in the epigastric area, epigastric pain from local
or liver metastases or other distant metastases ( brain, lungs, bones).
With liver involvement there would be jaundice and ascites. Because of the unreliability
of history and symptoms, diagnostic tests such as routine endoscopy of high risk
populations has been tested particularly in Japan, where the stomach cancer rates
are higher. Endoscopy with biopsy of suspicious lesions and double contrast stomach
X-ray studies have found stomach cancers much earlier, when therapy can make a
positive difference. Treatment: Stomach surgery
is the treatment of choice. The surgeon should be involved as early as possible.
In the cases of Malt lymphoma (=gastric lymphoma), which is another form of stomach
cancer, a combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy is used, often with better
long-term prognosis than an adenocarcinoma. For a more detailed description
of stomach cancer
click on this link.
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