Stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the stomach. Stomach cancer usually begins in the mucus-producing cells that line the stomach. This type of cancer is called adenocarcinoma. Cancers starting in different sections of the stomach may cause different symptoms and tend to have different outcomes.
Stomach cancer occurs when normally healthy cells within the upper digestive system become cancerous and grow out of control, forming a tumor. This process happens slowly. Stomach cancer tends to develop over many years.
Stomach cancer develops when cells in the lining of the stomach grow and divide in an abnormal way. Tumours can begin anywhere in the stomach, although most start in the glandular tissue found on the stomach's inner surface (mucosa). This type of cancer is called adenocarcinoma of the stomach (also known as gastric cancer).
Surgery remains the cornerstone for curative treatment with multimodality therapy including prior chemotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery helping improve the outcomes largely.
Surgery (Radical gastrectomy) consists of removal of a part (subtotal) or entire (total) stomach along with the removal of lymph nodes referred to as D2 lymphadenectomy. In a selected subgroup of patients, this can be done by minimally invasive surgery.
When cancer is advanced and causes an inability to eat orally, endoscopic procedures like stenting to tackle the cancer-induced block in the food passage can be useful. Rarely, surgical bypass and/ or feeding procedure may be performed for alleviating the inability to eat and improve the condition to consider starting other modalities of treatment like chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
Gastric Cancers - After surgery, radiation therapy is used in some cases to reduce the chances of tumour recurring. In this situation, proton therapy can help to reduce the immediate side effects that patient experiences due to radiation.
Radiation therapy is also used with palliative intent to relieve local pain.
Dr Guruprasad Bhat 