Gastric cancer introduction
Gastric cancer is indeed a disease that seriously threatens people’s health. Gastric cancer can occur at any age, but it is more common in 40 to 60 years old, with men more than women at a ratio of about 2:1.
The cause of the disease is unknown, and it may be related to a variety of factors, such as lifestyle, diet, environmental factors, genetic factors, mental factors, etc. It is also related to chronic gastritis, gastric polyps, gastric mucosal dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia, postoperative residual stomach, and long-term Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection.
Gastric cancer can occur in any part of the stomach, but it is more common in the gastric antrum, especially the lesser curvature of the stomach. It is divided into early gastric cancer and mid-to-late gastric cancer according to the depth of infiltration of cancer tissue.
The early symptoms of gastric cancer are often not obvious, such as elusive upper abdominal discomfort, dull pain, pantothenic acid, loss of appetite, mild anemia, etc., which are similar to the symptoms of gastric duodenal ulcer or chronic gastritis. Some patients take painkillers, anti-ulcer drugs or adjust their diet to reduce or relieve pain, so they are often ignored and no further examination is done.
Symptoms of advanced gastric cancer
As the disease progresses, stomach symptoms gradually become more obvious, including upper abdominal pain, loss of appetite, emaciation, weight loss and anemia. In the later stage, there are often metastasis of cancer, abdominal mass, left supraclavicular lymph node enlargement, black stool, ascites and severe malnutrition.
Dangers of gastric cancer
Since gastric cancer is extremely common in my country and has great harm, relevant studies believe that its cause is related to eating habits, gastric diseases, etc., so understanding the basic knowledge about gastric cancer is of great significance for gastric cancer prevention and treatment.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), gastric cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, and has the second highest mortality rate among all cancers, and is regarded as an important international health crisis.
What diseases are easily confused with gastric cancer? Click here if you want to know more about it.