Information about gastric cancer

Stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) starts in the stomach.

In everyday speech, the word "stomach" is often used to refer to the area of the body between the chest and the hips. For instance, people with pain in the appendix, small intestine, colon, or gallbladder might say they have a "stomach ache." The medical term for this area is the abdomen and doctors would describe the symptom as "abdominal pain."

The difference is important because the stomach is only one of many organs in the abdomen that can develop cancer. So stomach cancer should not be confused with other cancers that can occur in the abdomen. These other cancers can cause different symptoms. They are treated differently and have a different outlook for survival.

Cancer can start in any part of the stomach. Symptoms, treatment options, and the outlook for survival can all vary depending on where in the stomach the cancer begins.

Most of the time stomach cancer starts in the mucosa and slowly grows out into the other layers. Stomach cancer tends to grow slowly over many years. Before a true cancer develops, there are usually changes that take place in the lining of the stomach (the mucosa). These early changes rarely cause symptoms and often are not noticed.

How it Spreads (Metastasizes)

Stomach cancer can spread in several different ways. It can grow through the wall of the stomach and invade nearby organs. It can also spread to the lymph nodes (bean-sized collections of immune system cells) and then through the lymph system. If cancer spreads this way, the outlook for a cure gets worse. When stomach cancer is more advanced, it can travel through the bloodstream and form deposits of cancer cells in organs such as the liver, lungs, and bones. But even though it has spread to other organs, it is still called stomach cancer.

Adenocarcinoma

Most cancers of the stomach are of a type called adenocarcinomas. This cancer develops from cells that form the lining of the innermost layer, the mucosa. The term "stomach cancer" almost always refers to this type of cancer.

How Many People Get Stomach Cancer?

We know that there will be about 21,500 new cases of stomach cancer in the United States in 2008. About 10,880 people will die of this disease. Two thirds of the people found to have stomach cancer are older than 65. The risk of a person getting stomach cancer in their lifetime is about 1 in 100, but it is slightly higher for men than for women.

Stomach cancer is much more common in other countries worldwide. It was once a leading cause of cancer deaths in this country but it is now much less common. The reasons for this decline are not completely known, but they may be linked to more use of refrigeration for food storage and less use of salted and smoked foods. Some doctors think that an important factor is the use of antibiotics to treat infections in children. These drugs can kill the bacteria (called H. pylori) that may be a major cause of this disease.

For more information:

American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org (phone 800-ACS-2345)

National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov