Stomach is the first part of the gastro-intestinal tract where the food stays for some time and gets broken down and digested. If the food contains any substance that is carcinogenic, the stomach is the first part to be affected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cause(s)<\/p>\n
The cause is not known. Heavy alcohol drinkers suffer from it more. It occurs in the older age-group of people between 50-70 years. Its incidence is highest in Japan.<\/p>\n
Symptoms<\/p>\n
Symptoms of stomach cancer are very vague to begin with. These are:<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Diminished appetite
\n\u00b7 Loss of weight
\n\u00b7 Discomfort and pain in the abdomen Vomit containing blood
\n\u00b7 Many a time, the only symptom is diminished appetite and not being well.<\/p>\n
Diagnosis<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Routine: Blood: TLC and DLC may be normal.
\n\u00b7 Hb may be low.
\n\u00b7 ESR is raised.
\n\u00b7 Stool examination may show occult blood in it.<\/p>\n
Special: Barium meal may show a filling defect at the site of the cancer growth.<\/p>\n
Gastroscopy may indicate the cancer tissue in the wall of the stomach, which can be seen directly by the eye applied to the endoscope introduced inside the stomach.<\/p>\n
Gastric biopsy is taken with the help of the forceps of the endoscope, and processed and examined under the microscope. It clinches the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
Treatment<\/p>\n
Many a time, cancer of the stomach is diagnosed at such a late stage that anything that is done is of no help to the patient.<\/p>\n
Surgery: Surgery is sometimes undertaken to remove the obstruction, and thus to provide relief to the patient for some time.<\/p>\n
If detected early, removal of the involved part and also a large part of the surrounding organ plus all the locally draining lymph glands, (radical gastrectomy) is done, with some degree of success.<\/p>\n
After recovery, the patient should take small meals at a time, though more number of times. The food should be well balanced, nutritious and contain very little fibrous part.<\/p>\n
Since stomach wall forms vitamin B12, removal of a large part of the stomach, creates its deficiency, so that the patient needs to take it regularly.<\/p>\n
Radiation: Radiation therapy is not effective for stomach cancer. However, if the cancer has spread into the surrounding and nearby areas and organs, radiation may provide some relief from pain.<\/p>\n
Chemotherapy: A combination of 5-Fluorouracil Adriamycin or Mitomycin is effective, to an extent. 20 to 25 per cent of the patients respond to this line of treatment, but the survival is not much prolonged.<\/p>\n
In case of a small local tumour detected early, surgery along with chemotherapy with 5-Fluorouracil is helpful without causing much of side-effects.<\/p>\n
Early Detection<\/p>\n
Signs & Symptoms<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Diminished appetite.
\n\u00b7 Loss of weight.
\n\u00b7 Discomfort or pain in the abdomen.
\n\u00b7 Vomit containing blood.<\/p>\n
Investigations<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Barium meal may show up the cancer.
\n\u00b7 Endoscopy (Gastroscopy) shows the lesion directly.
\n\u00b7 Biopsy taken through endoscopy and its examination reveals the diagnosis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stomach is the first part of the gastro-intestinal tract where the food stays for some time and gets broken down and digested. If the food contains any substance that is carcinogenic, the stomach is the first part to be affected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer-treatment"],"yoast_head":"\n