Stomach Cancer Treatment or Gastric Cancer Treatment

Stomach cancer treatment or gastric cancer treatment includes treatments like radiation therapy, surgery, etc.

Stomach cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the lining and the wall of the stomach.

This stomach cancer spreads to the other layers as it advances.

The malignant cells grow rapidly and divide faster accumulating at a certain point forming tumors. These tumors grow and invade the other parts. Let us first gain some knowledge causes of stomach cancer, before knowing about the various stomach cancer treatment options.

Causes of Stomach Cancer

Though the exact stomach cancer cause is not known certain risk factors are said to increases the chances of developing the disease. Stomach cancer is not catchy meaning it does not spread by touch. Till date doctors are unable to find out why one gets this disease and the other does not.

Presence of ulcers in the stomach is found to be a risk of developing the disease. The ulcers are said to have a primary cause which is a H. pylori infection. However the presence of ulcers necessarily does not mean that the person is at risk for cancer.

Certain chemicals are said to be the risk factors for the cancer like the nitrates and nitrites. Also the salted, smoked or pickled foods and red meat consumption increases the chances. Avoiding tobacco and alcohol use may help to reduce the risk.

Stomach cancer treatment or gastric cancer treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, or a combination of these treatments.

The choice of treatment depends on whether the cancer is just in the stomach or if it has spread to other places in the body. A person’s age and overall health will also affect the choice of treatment. Stomach cancer treatment options include the following:

Stomach Cancer Treatment with Surgery

Surgery is the most common stomach cancer treatment. Depending on the extent of the cancer, a part (subtotal, or partial, gastrectomy) or all (total gastrectomy) of the stomach as well as some of the surrounding tissue may be removed. Lymph nodes near the tumor also are often removed during surgery.

The surgical method of stomach cancer treatment gives good recovery when the disease is at its initial stage and the tumor has not spread. As all the surgeries remove a part of the stomach later the remaining part of the stomach is connected to the esophagus and the small intestine.

But unfortunately, diagnosis usually doesn’t occur until stomach cancer is in its advanced stage meaning when it has spread through the stomach wall to nearby lymph nodes or other organs. In this stage the surgery may serve the purpose of complete recovery but definitely it helps in controlling the severity of symptoms like reducing the pain, intractable bleeding or obstruction.

Stomach Cancer Treatment with Radiation Therapy

Radiation is considered a local stomach cancer treatment because only cells in the area being treated are affected. For this purpose high energy radiations are used, the radiations of specific type are selected according to the patient requirement by the doctor.

Radiation therapy is not much useful in advanced cases where the disease has spread to various regions. However this stomach cancer treatment helps to shrink the tumor or cure the tumor in its early stage, also to stop the cancer from recurring and in case of advanced cancer to treat the symptoms (Stomach Cancer Symptoms).

Chemotherapy

This stomach cancer treatment uses drugs to help kill cancer cells. These drugs may be administered orally or through the veins. This method of stomach cancer treatment is given in regular cycles.

This method helps in treating cancer that has spread to other parts and reduce the effect of symptoms. It helps the patient live a better life along with prolonging the patient’s life span.