Many cases of stomach cancer can't be completely cured, but it's still possible to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life using chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and surgery. If operable, surgery can cure stomach cancer as long as all of the cancerous tissue can be removed.
If the cancer is diagnosed and treated before it has spread outside the stomach, the 5-year survival rate is 70%. If the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is 32%.
Stomach cancer can be fatal if it is not found early. If found early, stomach cancer can be curable. However, stomach cancer is often not diagnosed until it has spread to the lymph nodes or other organs. In its advanced stages, only 1 in 5 people will survive for 5 years.
Diffuse Stomach Cancer
This aggressive cancer grows rapidly in the cells of the stomach wall. It doesn't form a mass or a tumor, so it can be challenging to diagnose. It tends to start in younger people with a family history of the disease or a related genetic syndrome.
Symptoms of stage 1 stomach cancer may include abdominal discomfort, indigestion, nausea, and bloating. At this stage, doctors typically recommend treatment with surgery to remove all or part of the stomach. They may follow this with chemotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells.
Stomach cancer is a slow-growing cancer that usually develops over a year or longer.
65 out of 100 people (65%) with stage 1 stomach cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they're diagnosed. Around 35 out of 100 people (around 35%) with stage 2 stomach cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they're diagnosed.
Stomach cancer mostly affects older people. The average age of people when they are diagnosed is 68. About 6 of every 10 people diagnosed with stomach cancer each year are 65 or older. The lifetime risk of developing stomach cancer is higher in men (about 1 in 96) than in women (about 1 in 152).
Stage 4 stomach cancer has spread to distant sites, meaning the outlook is generally unfavorable. Around 6% of people with stage 4 of this disease survive for 5 years or more after diagnosis. However, treatment and supportive care can help people manage their symptoms and may improve their likelihood of survival.
The most common place for stomach cancer to spread is to the liver. It can also spread to the lymph nodes, the tissue that lines the abdominal cavity (peritoneum), and the lungs.
Stomach cancer can present itself in several different ways, such as difficulty swallowing, feeling bloated after eating, feeling full after only eating a small amount of food, heartburn, indigestion, nausea, stomach pain, unintentional weight loss, and vomiting.
As the cancer progresses, the symptoms that do appear can be misdiagnosed as normal gastrointestinal issues. As a result, stomach cancer can go undetected for years before the symptoms become concerning enough to warrant diagnostic testing.
For some stages of stomach cancer, neoadjuvant chemo is one of the standard treatment options. Often, chemo is then given again after surgery. Chemo may be given after surgery has been done to remove the cancer. This is called adjuvant treatment.
This means that people with any stage of stomach cancer are, on average, about 33.3 percent as likely as people without stomach cancer to live five years or longer after being diagnosed.
Lung and bronchus cancer is responsible for the most deaths with 127,070 people expected to die from this disease. That is nearly three times the 52,550 deaths due to colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer death. Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer, causing 50,550 deaths.
Stomach cancer is a relatively common cancer in Australia, however the number of people diagnosed has been falling. It is estimated that more than 2,500 people were diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2022.
Abdominal discomfort or pain in the abdomen above the navel may be a symptom of a stomach tumor. Jaundice (yellowing of eyes and skin) Buildup of fluid, or swelling, in the abdominal area, which may appear like a lump in the abdomen. Difficulty swallowing.
Take time to learn about all of your treatment options and be sure to ask questions about things that are unclear. It can be difficult to cure stomach cancer because it is often not found until it is at an advanced stage.
CT scans can show the stomach fairly clearly and often can confirm the location of a cancer. CT scans can also show other parts of the body to which stomach cancer might have spread, such as the liver and nearby lymph nodes.
Even with an endoscope, it can be difficult to distinguish cancerous lesions from healthy or scarred stomach tissue. Ngamruengphong explains why: “When we perform a screening endoscopy, we don't see a large mass when cancer is present. Instead, we often see very small, very subtle lesions.”
At later stages, gastric cancer can be treated but rarely can be cured. Taking part in one of the clinical trials being done to improve treatment should be considered.
Main symptoms of stomach cancer
having problems swallowing (dysphagia) feeling or being sick. symptoms of indigestion, such as burping a lot. feeling full very quickly when eating.