Stomach Cancer : In Depth - Understanding...
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If you're having symptoms that are like those of stomach cancer, your doctor will want to know why. Your doctor is likely to ask you questions about these things.
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Sometimes cancers or polyps bleed. An FOBT checks for blood in your stool. It's a highly sensitive test, which means it can find polyps and cancer. However, sometimes the test can indicate that there's a polyp or cancer when there isn't. This is called a false positive. Or it can miss a polyp that doesn't bleed. Therefore it's commonly used as an initial test before another screening test such as a colonoscopy or a sigmoidoscopy.
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An upper GI series is an x-ray exam of your upper digestive tract (the area from your mouth to the start of your small intestine). This test helps your doctor find problems such as ulcers, tumors, and certain diseases.
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Upper GI endoscopy allows your doctor to look directly into the beginning of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The esophagus, stomach, and duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) make up the upper GI tract.
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To tell for sure if you have cancer, your doctor needs to remove tissue, fluid, or both from your stomach. This is called a biopsy. It is the only way to know for sure if you have cancer.
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There are very few things scarier than being told you have cancer. You may feel like you're in shock. You may not even want to believe what the doctor has told you. There are probably so many questions you want to ask but think you can't because you don't know where to start.
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Your doctor took a biopsy from your stomach to know that you have cancer. He or she may request more tests to learn more about your type of cancer and its specific location. Tests help find the cancer's stage, which helps the doctor decide on the treatment that is likely to be the most effective for you. Some of the tests you may need are imaging tests, which help your doctor see what's happening inside your body. Here are some of the imaging tests you may need to have. They are listed from most common to least common.
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Computed tomography (CT) is a test that combines x-rays and computer scans. The result is a detailed picture that can show problems with soft tissues (such as the lining of your sinuses), organs (such as your kidneys or lungs), and bones.
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that lets your doctor see detailed pictures of the inside of your body. MRI combines the use of strong magnets and radio waves to form an MRI image.
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A bone scan is an imaging test that uses a special camera to form images of your bones. It is used to diagnose bone problems, such as fractures, cancer, or infections, and joint problems such as arthritis. It is also used to check joint replacements.
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Rather than showing the structure of a body part, PET images show the chemical function of an organ or tissue. PET can show changes in how an organ or tissue works. This can help your healthcare provider diagnose problems and develop a treatment plan for you.
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The great majority of stomach cancers are a type called adenocarcinomas. These develop from the cells that form the innermost layer of the stomach, called the mucosa, in cells, called epithelial cells. These are other less common tumors found in the stomach.
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Grade is the word doctors use to describe how the cancer cells look. How these cells look provide clues to how quickly the cancer is likely to grow and spread. The pathologist who looked at the cells obtained from your biopsy determines the cancer's grade. There are 3 grades of stomach cancers.
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Stomach cancer tends to grow in a predictable way. It begins in the inner lining of the stomach, called the mucosa. When it grows, it penetrates into the stomach wall, through the stomach, and then outside of the stomach. If no one finds it before it has grown outside of the stomach, the cancer can spread to nearby organs such as the liver, large bowel, pancreas, or spleen. It may also spread to lymph nodes nearby.
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Stage is the word doctors use to communicate the size of a cancerous tumor and where and how far it has spread. The first place doctors find cancer in the body is called the primary site or primary tumor. When a cancer spreads, it has metastasized. Staging exams and tests help your doctors determine whether the cancer has spread, and if so, to what parts of the body.
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Doctors need to know the stage of stomach cancer you have in order to decide what treatment to recommend. The stage is based on the size and extent of the tumor, the number of lymph nodes involved, and how far the cancer has spread. Your doctor gets this information from your biopsies, imaging tests, examination of the contents removed during surgery, and any other exams done. Staging studies for stomach cancer may include a CT scan, an endoscopic ultrasound, and laparoscopy (with or without ultrasound).
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A prognosis is a statement about the prospect of surviving and recovering from a disease. It may sound hard to ask, "Can I survive this?” But it's a question most people ask when they learn they have stomach cancer. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy answer.
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These facts are from the American Cancer Society's 2007 Cancer Facts & Figures.
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