Stomach cancer, or gastric cancer, is a buildup of abnormal cells that form a mass in part of the stomach. It can develop in any part of the stomach.
Symptoms
Stomach cancer can cause several symptoms. However, these symptoms may not appear for many years as stomach cancers grow very slowly.
For this reason, many people with stomach cancer do not receive a diagnosis until the disease is already advanced.
Early stage symptoms of stomach cancer include:
- a sensation of being very full during meals
- swallowing difficulties
- feeling bloated after meals
- frequent burping
- heartburn
- indigestion that does not resolve
- stomach ache
- pain in the breastbone
- trapped wind
- vomiting, which may contain blood
However, many of these symptoms are very similar to those of other, less serious conditions. However, anyone with an increased risk for stomach cancer who experiences swallowing difficulties should seek prompt medical treatment.
As the stomach cancer becomes more advanced, some people might experience the following symptoms:
- anemia
- a buildup of fluid in the stomach, which may cause the stomach to feel lumpy to the touch
- black stools that contain blood
- fatigue
- loss of appetite
- weight loss
Treatment
Treatment for stomach cancer depends on several factors, including the severity of the cancer and the individual’s overall health and preferences.
Treatments may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, medications, and taking part in clinical trials.
Surgery
There are surgical procedures available to treat stomach cancer.
A surgeon may try to remove the stomach cancer as well as a margin of healthy tissue. The surgeon needs to do this to ensure that they do not leave any cancerous cells behind.
Examples include:
- Endoscopic mucosal resection: The surgeon will use endoscopy to remove tiny tumors from the mucosal layer. Doctors usually recommend this type of treatment for early stage stomach cancer that has not yet spread to other tissues.
- Subtotal gastrectomy: This involves removing part of the stomach.
- Total gastrectomy: A surgeon removes the whole stomach.
Abdominal surgeries are significant procedures and may require a long recovery period. People may have to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks after the procedure. Several weeks of recovery at home will follow this.
Radiation therapy
In radiation therapy, a specialist uses radioactive rays to target and kill cancerous cells. This type of therapy is not common in stomach cancer treatment because of the risk of harming nearby organs.
However, if the cancer is advanced or causing severe symptoms, such as bleeding or intense pain, radiation therapy is an option.
A healthcare team may combine radiation therapy with chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumors. This allows for easier surgical removal. They may also use radiation after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells around the stomach.
People may experience indigestion, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea as a result of undergoing radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a specialist treatment that uses drugs to stop rapidly-growing cancer cells from dividing and multiplying. These drugs are known as cytotoxic medicines. It is a primary treatment for stomach cancer that has spread to distant sites in the body.
The medication travels throughout the person’s body and attacks cancer cells at the primary site of the cancer and any other regions to which it has spread.
In stomach cancer treatment, a cancer care team may administer chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery or kill remaining cancer cells after surgery.
Targeted medications
Targeted therapies recognize and attack specific proteins that cancer cells produce. While chemotherapy targets rapidly dividing cells in general, targeted medications home in on cancer cells with other characteristics.
This reduces the number of healthy cells that chemotherapy destroys.
Cancer care teams administer two targeted medications for people with stomach cancer through an intravenous infusion (IV):
- Trastuzumab (Herceptin): This targets HER2, a protein that promotes cell growth. Some stomach cancers produce an excess of HER2.
- Ramucirumab (Cyramza): This medication focuses on blocking a protein called VEGF that tells the body to produce the new blood vessels that tumors need to grow.
Immunotherapy
This is a treatment that uses medicines to encourage the body’s immune cells to attack cancer cells.
People with advanced stomach cancer who have received two or more other treatments are candidates for immunotherapy.