There doesn’t seem to be much doubt about stomach cancer, which is a malignant tumor that occurs in the stomach. In fact, there are still some misconceptions about stomach cancer. Here are some common misconceptions about stomach diseases, including stomach cancer, to understand.
Misconception 1: Stomach pain is not a big problem, just take some medicine
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When there is stomach discomfort or pain, people often think it is caused by gastritis or peptic ulcer based on their past experience, and usually buy their own “stomach medicine” at the pharmacy to take it first.
But in fact, there are many causes of stomach discomfort, and benign diseases such as gastritis and peptic ulcers are only some of them, which can be relieved by conservative treatments such as medication, while stomach cancer is not as simple as taking medication.
Stomach pain caused by stomach cancer may be temporarily relieved by medication, but as the disease progresses, the patient may experience similar or even more severe symptoms again. The first time I saw the patient, I was able to see the patient’s face.
In the early stages of gastric cancer, patients have no obvious symptoms, or they only have peptic ulcer-like symptoms such as upper abdominal discomfort and indigestion, which are easily ignored by patients and delay the diagnosis. The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers.
Misconception 2: Gastroscopy is not necessary because of stomach discomfort
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Patients often complain that they just have an “upset stomach,” so why should the doctor order a gastroscopy? In addition, some patients often refuse or reject gastroscopy on the grounds that it is expensive and very painful. The first time I saw the doctor, I was able to see the patient’s face.
In fact, gastroscopy is of great value in the diagnosis of gastric diseases and is currently the test of choice for the diagnosis of gastric cancer. Its advantages are:
- The site, shape, size and extent of the lesion can be directly observed microscopically.
- If a suspicious lesion is found during the examination, it can be directly clamped and sent for pathological histological examination to further clarify the nature of the lesion.
- Ultrasound gastroscopy with an ultrasound probe can also detect and image the lesion area to understand the depth of infiltration and lymph node metastasis within the gastric wall, which can help to determine the preoperative clinical staging and to develop a detailed treatment plan accordingly.
In addition, with improved clinician technique and instrumentation, most patients do not experience significant discomfort during gastroscopy, so there is no need to be overly fearful of gastroscopy.
According to the national situation and epidemiological data of gastric cancer in China, and referring to the Consensus Opinion on Early Gastric Cancer Screening and Endoscopic Diagnosis and Treatment in China (Changsha, 2014), the definition of the target population for gastric cancer screening in China is: those who are ≥40 years old and meet any of the following criteria are recommended as the target population for gastric cancer screening:
- People in areas with a high incidence of gastric cancer;
- People with H. pylori (Hp) infection;
- Patients with precancerous diseases of the stomach, such as chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric ulcer, gastric polyp, post-surgical residual stomach, hypertrophic gastritis, pernicious anemia;
- First-degree relatives (i.e., parents, children, siblings) of patients with gastric cancer;
- The presence of other risk factors for gastric cancer (e.g., high salt intake, pickled diet, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, etc.).
Myth 3: You can’t get gastric cancer again after a gastrectomy
Some patients have undergone major gastrectomy for various reasons. These patients believe that because ulcers and other lesions have been removed from the stomach and most of the stomach tissue has been removed, they must not get stomach cancer again in the future.
In fact, the remnant of the stomach after major gastric resection can still be cancerous. In fact, there is a possibility of cancer in the remnant of the stomach more than 5 years after a major gastrectomy for a benign disease, called remnant gastric cancer. The incidence of remnant gastric cancer is about 1% to 5%, and the interval between remnant gastric cancer and major gastrectomy is about 10 to 20 years in most patients.
The clinical manifestations of residual gastric cancer are not typical. The main symptoms include feeling of fullness after eating, upper abdominal discomfort or pain, nausea and vomiting, vomiting blood or black stool, anemia, weight loss, etc. However, the specificity of the symptoms is not high and can be easily mistaken for gastrointestinal dysfunction or ulcer recurrence after gastrectomy.
Therefore, post-gastrectomy patients should still not take their gastric symptoms lightly. Regular gastroscopy is essential for patients with residual gastric cancer after gastrectomy, especially if the surgery is more than 10 years old, or if they develop peptic symptoms or ulcer-like symptoms. Early detection of remnant gastric cancer and giving active and systematic treatment is extremely important to improve the prognosis of patients with remnant gastric cancer.
Myth 4: Cancer is incurable and you won’t live long with gastric cancer
One of the issues that cancer patients and their families are very concerned about is how long patients have to live. Stomach cancer is seen by many as an incurable disease.
In fact, the survival time of gastric cancer patients is related to a number of factors, including the pathological stage and histological type of the tumor. In fact, the survival of patients with gastric cancer is related to the pathological stage and histological type of the tumor. Early gastric cancer lesions are confined to the superficial layer of the gastric wall, and after surgical treatment, the 5-year survival rate can reach over 90%. However, because early gastric cancer does not have obvious specific manifestations, it is easy to be ignored, and many gastric cancers are already in the progressive stage when diagnosed.
With the improvement of surgical techniques and the development of multidisciplinary integrated treatments such as radiotherapy and targeted therapy, the prognosis of patients with progressive gastric cancer has improved greatly. Therefore, gastric cancer is not an incurable disease. As long as we pay more attention to gastric cancer, detect potential lesions early and actively cooperate with treatment, patients can still achieve good survival benefits or even achieve a cure.
In conclusion, proper understanding of the disease is an important step in standardized diagnosis and treatment, so please consult your doctor more often to clarify your understanding and avoid misconceptions!