gastric cancer

gastric cancer,

a malignancy of the stomach. Approximately 97% of stomach tumors are adenocarcinomas, which may be ulcerating, polypoid, diffuse, and fibrous, or superficial spreading lesions. Lymphomas and leiomyosarcomas account for less than 3%. Symptoms of gastric cancer are vague epigastric discomfort, dysphagia, anorexia, weight loss, back pain, and unexplained iron deficiency anemia. However, many cases are asymptomatic in the early stages, and metastases may cause the first symptoms. Diagnostic measures include a test for occult blood in the stool, an upper GI series, a computed tomographic examination of the gastric mucosa with a flexible endoscope, and biopsy and cytologic studies of exfoliated tumor cells. Surgery is usually recommended for suitable lesions. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are usually not effective in adenocarcinoma but are often used in gastric lymphoma. Chemotherapy is used in treating advanced metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. Gastric cancer is declining in incidence in North America and Western Europe but is common in Japan. Dietary factors, such as nitrates, smoked and salted fish and meats, and moldy foods containing aflatoxin, and infection with Helicobacter pylori are thought to cause gastric cancer, but the cause remains unknown. Genetic factors also play a role. The incidence is higher in men than in women and peaks in individuals 50 to 59 years of age. The risk increases in workers exposed to asbestos and in patients with pernicious anemia.

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gastric cancer

Stomach cancer, see there

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Patient discussion about gastric cancer.

Q. Do japanese in the US still have high risk of stomach cancer? I was born in the US to parents that emigrated from Japan when they were in their late twenties. I know that people in Japan have a very high risk of stomach cancer. Does that mean that as an individual of Japanese origin I also have high risk, although I never were in Japan?

A. Children of immigrants from Japan have lower chance than that of Japanese people living in Japan, and the risk decrease the more time and generations they live outside Japan, but it's still a bit higher than the risk of non-Japanese people living in US.