By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The human body is composed of living cells, organized into tissues, organs, and systems. These cells are like the basic building blocks of all living things and the human body is composed of trillions of them. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. Cells also contain the body’s hereditary material and can make copies of themselves.
Normally, human cells grow and multiply through a process called cell division. This division takes place in order to form new cells as the body requires them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place. But in some cases, this orderly process breaks down, and abnormal or damaged cells begin to grow and multiply when that should not be the case.
These growing damaged cells may develop into tumors, which are lumps of tissues that can occur in various areas of the human body, depending on where the damaged tissues grow. Tumors can be either cancerous or not. Cancerous cells have the ability to spread to other areas of the body, including the stomach.
Stomach cancer can also be referred to as gastric cancer. It is a type of the various cancers that exist and it originates in the stomach. It usually begins when cells in the stomach start to grow out of control. Its occurrence has reduced significantly over the past twenty years. In other words, it is a disease that is not very common and the number of stomach cancer cases has declined. It usually grows slowly over many years and is most often seen in people in their late 60s to 80s.
The rarity of stomach cancer is what makes it even more dangerous because doctors do not generally do routine screenings for the disease and it can be hard to diagnose and treat. The disease is of many types, but the most common type is called adenocarcinoma, one that starts from the stomach’s inner lining. There are other types that start from the middle or outer parts of the stomach, but they are all relatively and highly rare. Stomach cancers are usually classified according to the type of tissue they start in.
The actual cause of stomach cancer is not yet known. However, there are some factors that can be associated with it, such as diet and lifestyle. For instance, a diet that is high in smoked or salted foods, processed meat and foods that are low in vegetables, as well as drinking alcohol and smoking, and being overweight or obese are all risk factors for stomach cancer. Also, a microorganism, which is called helicobacter pylori, that infects the inner lining of stomach, leading to ulcers, can contribute to cancer development.
Some non-cancerous conditions in the stomach, such as sores or overgrowth of cells of the inner lining can introduce cancer to the human body. Stomach surgery for an ulcer, Epstein-Barr virus infection, certain genes, working in coal, metal, timber, or rubber industries, exposure to asbestos and finally, as well as some hereditary conditions and factors can make people more likely to develop stomach cancer.
However, sometimes, there is no clear risk factor, as stomach cancer can still arise in the absence of any of the listed factors or conditions. In its earlier stages, stomach cancer may not reveal any symptoms.
According to the American Cancer Society, there are typically no early signs or symptoms of stomach cancer, which implies that people often do not know anything is wrong with them until the cancer has reached an advanced stage. However, some symptoms of the disease include early satisfaction from food, mild belly pain and fatigue, indigestion, feeling bloated after you eat a meal, and heartburn.
These symptoms may be similar to symptoms of other less serious conditions; meaning that simply having indigestion or heartburn after a meal doesn’t necessarily mean that a person has cancer. But some symptoms are more suggestive of stomach cancer. Symptoms like unexplained weight loss, severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, vomiting blood, tarry dark and sticky stool, as well as difficulty or painful swallowing are suggestive symptoms. If a person experiences any of these symptoms for more than two weeks, the individual is advised to see a gastroenterologist immediately.
Advanced endoscopic techniques can lead to the earlier detection of gastric cancer, which implies that the cancer is easier to treat. Stomach cancer is easiest to treat when it is spotted early. The most effective treatment method for patients with early gastric cancer is resection, which is endoscopy or surgery to remove the cancer. The exact type of procedure one has to undergo depends on the cancer’s stage and where it is located. For some patients, the doctor may remove only the cancerous section of the stomach or might have to remove the entire stomach in severe cases.
Medical practitioners have revealed that about 95 percent of all stomach cancers start in the glandular tissue that lines the stomach. The tumor may spread along the stomach wall or may grow directly through the wall and shed cells into the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Once these cells go beyond the stomach, the cancer can spread to other organs.
There are many treatments available that can fight stomach cancer. The one a person is subjected to will depend on how long the individual has had the disease or how much it has spread in the person’s body, which is referred to as the stage of cancer.
At the early stages of stomach cancer, surgery usually cures it. At this stage the doctor removes the infected parts on the stomach. Chemotherapy or chemoradiation can also work at this stage. It can be used before surgery in order to shrink the tumor and after surgery to kill any cancer that is left. Chemotherapy is a treatment process that uses drugs to attack cancer cells. While chemoradiation has to do with chemo plus radiation therapy, which destroys cancer cells with beams of high energy.
In severe stages, a procedure that destroys part of the tumor with a laser on an endoscope, a thin tube that slides down the patient’s throat, a thin metal tube called a stent that can keep things flowing, can be used for treatment, as well as surgery and chemotherapy. Targeted therapy could also be applied as it helps attack cancer cells, but leave healthy ones alone, which may mean fewer side effects.
Stomach cancer can be prevented and avoided as much as possible. One way to do this is to treat stomach infections. If a person develops ulcers as a result of a helicobacter pylori infection, it is advised that such an individual get treatment immediately.
Antibiotics can be used to kill the bacteria and other drugs recommended by a doctor can help heal the sores in the lining of the stomach in order to cut out the risk of cancer. Eating healthy is another way to prevent the development of this disease. The intake of more fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis helps as well. These fruits are high in fiber and in some vitamins that have the ability to lower cancer risk.
It is advised that very salty, pickled, cured, or smoked foods like hot dogs, processed lunch meats, or smoked cheese should be avoided as much as possible. Also, body weight should be kept at a healthy level because being overweight or obese can also raise the risk of the disease. Smoking should also be avoided, as stomach cancer risk doubles with the use of tobacco.
A Health surgical oncologist at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Dr. Michael Meyers, said that a lot of problems in the stomach come and go. So, people may think that symptoms of this disease might just be as a result of either indigestion that will go away, heartburn or an ulcer.
According to him, stomach cancer is usually not the first thing that comes to mind for most people. He also stated that the disease is treatable, especially if it hasn’t spread beyond the stomach, encouraging people to understand the signs and symptoms of stomach cancer in order to get diagnosed early because the survival rates are much lower if cancer has spread.