The early symptoms of gastric cancer are hidden and often overlooked by patients, and there may be some atypical symptoms of gastric cancer. The following are some of the symptoms that may be a sign of stomach cancer, so don’t ignore them.
Loss of appetite
Loss of appetite, lethargy and weakness
As gastric cancer progresses, the balance of the gastric environment is disrupted, the secretion of digestive juices is disturbed, gastric motility becomes poor, and the patient’s appetite is significantly reduced, followed by impairment of nutrient absorption and metabolism.
Fever
Stomach cancer can also cause fever, called tumor fever. In this fever, the body temperature usually fluctuates from 37.5 to 38°C. The patient does not have a significant chill during the fever, but instead feels hot. The use of antibiotics and anti-allergy drugs also does not significantly lower the body temperature.
The causes of fever are, on the one hand, infection due to rapid tumor growth with concomitant tissue necrosis due to relative ischemia and hypoxia; on the other hand, it may be some component released by the cancer cells themselves, causing an inflammatory response or immune response.
Supraclavicular or periumbilical mass
More malignant or advanced gastric cancer can metastasize to the left supraclavicular lymph nodes or to the periumbilical area, and the mass is first felt in the appropriate area when the patient has no other symptoms. Usually, the mass is not smooth, hard as stone, and fixed with adhesions to the surrounding tissue.
Abdominal pain, menstrual irregularities
When ovarian metastasis occurs in gastric cancer, it can manifest as acute abdominal pain, irregular menstruation, and a lump may be felt in the lower abdomen. About 15%-50% of female gastric cancer patients will develop ovarian metastasis, but clinically, only 3%-8% of gastrointestinal cancers are diagnosed with ovarian metastasis. Ovarian metastases from gastric cancer occur mostly in premenopausal or young women and may not be accompanied by significant gastrointestinal symptoms.
Headache, severe vomiting
When brain metastases from gastric cancer occur, patients may experience some symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, such as headache, severe jet-like vomiting, and loss of vision, due to rapid tumor growth and severe surrounding edema. When the tumor invades some parts of the body, it may also affect the function of the corresponding parts, resulting in numbness or weakness of the limbs, hemiparesis, limited convulsions, ataxia, involuntary eye movements (nystagmus), etc.
During the development of gastric cancer, there may also be manifestations not directly related to the lesion itself and metastases, called concomitant cancer syndrome, which may occur in various organ systems of the body, such as skin manifestations, sensory or motor abnormalities in the limbs, etc.
In conclusion, the manifestations of gastric cancer are not limited to the stomach, but may also have some manifestations outside the GI tract that should be alerted.