Stomach cancer and warning signs you should not ignore
What is stomach cancer?
Stomach cancer is a condition in which cells in the stomach grow abnormally, out of control, leading to the formation of tumors. When advanced, this malignant tumor can spread around and metastasize to many other organs. When stomach cancer is advanced, the patient can die.
Stomach cancer pictures
According to the Japan Stomach Cancer Society, stomach cancer is divided into 3 types:
a. Type I (Convex)
b. Type II (Flat or Surface)
c. Type III (ulcer form)
In addition to this subspecies, endoscopic gastric cancer images can be divided into polypoid, fungal, ulcerative, and infiltrative forms. Each type will have its own characteristic lesions and different degrees of malignancy. Depending on experience, doctors use the appropriate category for the best treatment strategy.
Signs of stomach cancer
In the early stages, stomach cancer often has no obvious symptoms, patients have vague epigastric pain, pain may radiate to the back, and patients may feel tired and bored. eat. In more advanced cases of cancer, more visible signs may be seen, for example, if the tumor is large, causing partial narrowing of the stomach, the patient may experience pain, nausea, anemia, and weight loss.
Some signs of stomach cancer you need to watch out for:
– Abdominal bloating: At first, the pain symptoms are very similar to those of a stomach ulcer, so patients are often subjective, take the disease lightly and only go to the doctor when it’s too late.
Loss of appetite: Loss of appetite is definitely something that requires extreme attention.
– Unexplained weight loss, fatigue: Losing a lot of weight in a short time, accompanied by a feeling of fullness, anorexia, nausea, fatigue, it could be a warning of stomach cancer.
– If there are signs of vomiting blood, heartburn, bloating after eating, unusual colored stools, it is very likely that you have stomach cancer.
Causes of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer is caused by the following main causes:
– Precancerous lesions: Precancerous lesions include atrophy of the gastric mucosa, cells in the gastric mucosa change morphology to resemble those of the intestine and colon; stomach lining cells change structure, escape the control of the body.
– Helicobacter pylori: Causes chronic gastric mucosal ulcers, leading to precancerous lesions.
Genetics: Stomach cancer is linked to a number of genetic syndromes. The rate of inheritance of atrophic gastritis gene from mother to child is 48%.
– Complications after gastric surgery: People with a history of stomach surgery have a high risk of stomach cancer. Therefore, for people with a history of gastric surgery, periodic screening should be focused to detect cancer early.
In addition, other factors such as obesity, blood type, age, gender or lifestyle habits are also factors that increase the risk of stomach cancer.
Measures to diagnose stomach cancer
For early screening of gastric cancer today, the most effective method is still the method of gastroscopy with a flexible tube. The role of flexible bronchoscopy in screening for gastric and upper gastrointestinal cancers is now widely known, especially because patients who come to the hospital for gastrointestinal examination often have no symptoms. obvious, for example, epigastric pain or weight loss.
Is stomach cancer dangerous?
Like many other types of cancer, stomach cancer is a completely curable disease if detected early, so the key to preventing this disease is the most effective cancer screening.
5 stages of development of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer goes through 5 main stages, including:
Early stage: New cancer cells are located in the lining of the stomach.
Stage 1: Cancer cells have invaded the second layer of the stomach but have not spread to other organs. At this stage, there are still no symptoms of stomach cancer.
Stage 2: Cancer cells have moved through the lining of the stomach. In stage 2, a few more obvious symptoms began to appear: abdominal pain, nausea….
Stage 3: Cancer cells have started to spread to the lymph nodes and other organs in the body.
Stage 4 (late stage): Cancer cells have spread throughout the body. High mortality rate.
How is stomach cancer treated?
Treatment depends on the stage of the disease and your health conditions. Treatment methods include:
Surgery: This is the first and primary treatment for early stomach cancers. Patients may have surgery to remove part or all of the stomach. After stabilization, the patient was able to drink and eat again. After 10-14 days of surgery, the patient can be discharged from the hospital. The cases of late stage cancer can: Temporary surgery, to restore the circulation of the digestive tract, prolonging the patient’s life.
Chemotherapy: A treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells. If the cancer is at an early stage, chemotherapy is used as an adjunct to surgery, radiation, or both, to destroy any remaining cancer cells in the body to prevent stomach cancer from coming back later. this. However, when using chemotherapy, there will be some side effects, but these side effects are only temporary and can be reduced after treatment.
Radiation therapy: This method uses radioactive rays to kill cancer cells. In stomach cancer, radiation treatment is given after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be used along with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and relieve symptoms.
How to prevent stomach cancer
Stomach cancer is completely preventable and detected early, you should:
Maintain a healthy lifestyle and nutrition, eat foods rich in vitamins A, B, and E and limit eating salty foods because they contain a lot of nitrite and secondary amines that will combine into substances when entering the stomach. carcinogenic risk.
– Limit smoked, grilled, fried foods: Through processing these foods contain a lot of toxins that cause cancer.
– Give up the habit of smoking, drinking alcohol, stimulants: Using these substances will cause many cancers, not only stomach cancer.
– Have a reasonable and moderate mode of rest and exercise. And most importantly, screening for stomach cancer to protect your health, if detected early, this disease can be completely controlled, the quality of treatment is very high.
Phuong Le
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vietnamnet.vn – Read the original article here
