Signs and Symptoms of Stomach Cancer
Cancer that occurs in the stomach
Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer and spread to other areas of the body.
Stomach cancers tend to develop slowly over many years. Before true cancer develops, pre-cancerous changes often occur in the stomach's inner lining (mucosa). These early changes rarely cause symptoms, so they often go undetected.
Cancers starting in different stomach sections can cause other symptoms and have different outcomes. Cancer's location can also affect treatment options. For example, cancers that start at or grow into the GE junction are usually staged and treated the same as cancers of the esophagus.
Types of stomach cancer
- Adenocarcinomas
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs)
- Neuroendocrine tumors
- Lymphomas ad others
Stomach cancer is one of those tricky diagnoses where most people may have retrospectively felt symptoms. Still, they are usually vague symptoms that can be confused with many other benign gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.
When stomach cancer does cause signs and symptoms, they can include: Some of these early symptoms include:
- Bloating.
- Heartburn.
- Nausea.
- A general feeling of discomfort.
- Poor appetite
- Weight loss (without trying)
- Abdominal (belly) pain
- Vague discomfort in the abdomen, usually above the navel
- Vomiting, with or without blood
- Swelling or fluid build-up in the abdomen
- Blood in the stool
- Feeling tired or weak as a result of having too few red blood cells (anaemia)
- Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice),
if cancer spreads to the liver, most of these symptoms are more likely to be caused by things other than stomach cancer, such as a viral infection or an ulcer. Some of these symptoms may also be caused by different types of cancer. However, people who have these problems, especially if they do not go away or get worse, should see a doctor so the cause can be found and treated if needed.
Many cases of stomach cancer cannot be cured entirely, but it is still possible to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life using chemotherapy and, in some cases, radiotherapy and surgery. If operable, surgery can cure stomach cancer as long as all cancerous tissue can be removed.
