Initial symptoms of gastric cancer and symptoms when it spreads
Gastric cancer is usually detected by initial symptoms such as pain in the upper abdomen, bloating sensation and loss of appetite as an opportunity to be detected during X-ray imaging and endoscopy. If gastric cancer starts to metastasize, symptoms such as weight loss and bleeding from the digestive tube will start to appear.
Stomach bloating
It is obvious that you have not overeaten or consumed too much fried food, but you always feel that there is food in your stomach that has not been digested. Normally, food is delivered to the small intestine after a certain time of stomach digestion, but when the stomach’s discharge function decreases for some reason, gastritis and gastric ulcer, gastric cancer, etc. may occur when the mucous membrane of the stomach is damaged.
Frequent hiccups, nausea and vomiting!
It is easy to take hiccups lightly in life, but frequent hiccups are also one of the early symptoms of gastric cancer. Hiccups are caused by excessive air accumulation in the stomach, and are also related to excessive stomach acid and pressure.
In addition, if the cancer is near the entrance, it is difficult for food to enter the stomach, and if it is near the exit, it is difficult for food to be sent to the small intestine. As the stomach cancer spreads, the volume of the stomach itself becomes narrower, and the symptoms of nausea and vomiting become easy to occur.
Pain and discomfort in the stomach and chest!
Many people are actually unaware that the stomach is usually located 25 cm down from the throat. Stomach cancer, therefore, can also prompt a feeling of pain near the chest. Gastritis, and gastric ulcer can also show the same symptoms. The pain of gastric ulcer appears when the stomach acid production increases after meals, while the pain caused by gastric cancer is not related to the time of eating.
Many gastric cancer patients do not notice early symptoms such as pain and discomfort in the stomach in the early stage, but as gastric cancer spreads, these pre-symptoms will become obvious.
Fatigue of the whole body and dramatic weight loss!
As stomach cancer progresses, nausea and vomiting caused by stomach pain and discomfort will lead to a decrease in appetite, and the body will not be able to take in sufficient amounts of nutrients and minerals. In addition, even if you still have a good appetite during the cancer period, you may feel fatigue all over your body due to bleeding from stomach cancer because the cancer is taking in nutrients for its growth.
Also, as the cancer spreads, the fatigue and anorexia persist, and the patient’s weight drops dramatically.
Anemia symptoms and vertigo!
Hemoglobin, the building block of red blood cells, plays an important role in the transport chain that supplies oxygen to all corners of the body. If hemoglobin becomes low, oxygen transport becomes inadequate, and symptoms such as dizziness, shakiness, shortness of breath, and headache follow, which are called anemia.
Anemia is divided into several categories, and the anemia that occurs in stomach cancer symptoms is called iron deficiency anemia, which is mainly caused by the deficiency of iron, the main raw material of hemoglobin. This is because the bleeding of gastric cancer causes excessive loss of iron.
Black stool!
Black stool is called black stool or tarry stool if the color of the stool resembles the black color of a tarred road. When there is a lot of bleeding in the stomach or duodenum, the blood and stomach acid are mixed in the stool, resulting in such black color.
Since early gastric cancer also has a little bleeding, it can be detected by fecal occult blood test. The appearance of black stool means that there is a possibility of massive bleeding in the stomach, so it is necessary to go to hospital for in-depth examination as soon as possible.
4, terminal symptoms of stomach cancer
Pneumoperitoneum!
Pneumoperitoneum is the accumulation of water in the abdomen. According to the Japanese medical literature, the surface of the stomach, liver, small intestine and large intestine in our stomach is covered with a tatami-mat-sized peritoneum (about 1.5 square meters), and pneumoperitoneum means that this peritoneum becomes pouch-shaped and excess fluid accumulates on it.
Normally 50 ~ 100 ml of ascites accumulates in the peritoneal cavity, which plays a role in preventing infection and lubrication. However, when the cancer spreads to the peritoneum, the peritoneum becomes inflamed, thus producing an excess of ascites. Due to the increase of ascites, the lungs are overly compressed, which can cause difficulty in breathing, increased cancer pain, etc.
Symptoms of metastasis to lymph nodes!
Cancer cells can metastasize to other tissues and multiply through blood and lymphatic spread. Among them, there are many cases of metastasis to the stomach through lymph nodes, followed by stomach cancer. If the lymph around the stomach and intestines metastasize, it must be removed cleanly through surgery.
Lymphatic tissues are located all over the body, and the symptoms may be different when different lymphatic locations are attacked. If the lymph has metastasized to the more distant lymph, surgery is no longer appropriate and anti-cancer drugs are usually chosen for treatment at this time.
Jaundice!
The liver is adjacent to the stomach, and stomach cancer can easily transfer cancer cells to the liver through the blood. If the cancer cells spread to the liver, which is a channel for transporting bile, the liver will swell and the body will turn yellow and jaundice will appear. If this metastasis is not suppressed and the liver is severely damaged, liver failure may even occur.
Intestinal blockage!
When cancer cells spread to the intestinal canal, the pathway for food may be closed, and there is a possibility of intense abdominal pain and nausea and vomiting.