Stage 3 Colon Cancer: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Stomach Cancer Vs. Ulcer: How To Tell Them Apart
Stomach ulcers and stomach cancer can both cause abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal symptoms, but there are some differences. Both conditions can be serious and require medical attention.
The first symptom of a stomach ulcer is often a burning pain near the center of your abdomen. This pain often gets worse after eating.
The initial symptom of stomach cancer may be abdominal pain, but other symptoms like unexplained weight loss or vomiting are also common.
Many other conditions can cause similar symptoms, such as:
Read on to learn more about how you can tell stomach cancer and stomach ulcers apart.
Stomach cancer, stomach ulcers, and other GI conditions can all cause similar symptoms. The only way to know for sure what's causing your symptoms is to visit a doctor for testing.
Abdominal pain without other symptoms like weight loss, loss of appetite, or vomiting blood is more likely to be caused by a stomach ulcer than stomach cancer. Usually, stomach ulcer pain is described as burning and occurs between your breastbone and belly button.
Healthcare professionals can help you tell the difference between a stomach ulcer and stomach cancer with various tests.
Tests to look for stomach cancer include:
Tests to look for signs of a stomach ulcer include:
Stomach cancer rarely causes symptoms in the early stages. Most cancers are detected once they've grown large or spread to other tissues.
According to the American Cancer Society, potential symptoms of stomach cancer include:
In a 2020 study, researchers found that weight loss was the first symptom of stomach cancer in 65% of people in a group of 210 people diagnosed at one hospital in Thailand.
The most common symptom of a stomach ulcer is usually burning or gnawing pain in your abdomen. Pain can last from minutes to hours and often gets worse after eating. Antacids may relieve the pain temporarily.
Less common symptoms include:
Here's a brief look at how stomach ulcers and stomach cancer pain symptoms vary.
Most stomach ulcers are noncancerous, but it is possible for some to transform into cancer. Research suggests that cancer rates are anywhere between 2.4% and 21% in stomach ulcers that were diagnosed by endoscopy.
In a 2018 study with 111 people, researchers found that 37.8% of giant stomach ulcers were cancerous. They defined giant ulcers as those greater than 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
In a 2022 study, researchers found that people with a history of ulcers had a more than 3 times increased risk of developing stomach cancer than people without a history of ulcers.
Contracting the bacterium Helicobacter (H.) pylori is a risk factor for developing both stomach cancer and ulcers. H. Pylori is very common, though. It's estimated to affect about 36% of U.S. People.
The majority of cases of adenocarcinoma, the most common type of stomach cancer, are attributed to H. Pylori. It also causes about 70–90% of stomach ulcers.
Stomach cancer doesn't usually cause symptoms in the early stages.
When symptoms do appear, they can mimic those of other gastrointestinal conditions, including a stomach ulcer.
Stomach ulcers can lead to life threatening internal bleeding if left untreated. This is why it's important to get medical attention if you think you might have a stomach ulcer.
People often have symptoms for weeks to months before seeking medical attention.
With treatment, most stomach ulcers usually heal within a couple of months. Some small stomach ulcers may heal on their own without treatment, but most continue to get larger.
Learn more about how long it takes to treat a stomach ulcer.
Stomach ulcer treatmentsTreatment for a stomach ulcer can vary depending on the underlying cause. Most people with stomach ulcers have H. Pylori. Antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) are often recommended for these ulcers. Sometimes, you'll receive an H2-receptor antagonist instead of a PPI.
PPIs and H2-receptor antagonists reduce the amount of stomach acid your body produces. They're usually prescribed for 4–8 weeks.
According to the National Health Service, the most prescribed antibiotics are:
Antacids may also help relieve symptoms. Lifestyle habits may support your body's ability to heal. They include avoiding or minimizing:
In rare cases, a stomach ulcer may need surgical treatment.
Stomach cancer treatmentsDoctors often use a combination of treatments for stomach cancer. The treatment plan they recommend depends on factors such as:
The main treatments for stomach cancer include:
Learn more about the treatment options for stomach cancer.
Stomach cancers and stomach ulcers can both cause abdominal pain. For ulcers, the most common first symptom is a sharp, burning pain in your abdomen that gets worse after eating.
Many people with stomach cancer have unintentional weight loss as their first symptom. Some people experience discomfort between their breastbone and belly button.
Both stomach cancer and stomach ulcers require prompt medical treatment. If you have any potential symptoms of either condition, reach out to a healthcare professional as soon as possible.
Why Is Stomach Cancer Rising In Young Women?
More than a decade ago, Shria Kumar, a gastroenterologist and researcher at the University of Miami, began noticing something unsettling. Some of the stomach cancer patients coming to her were much younger than is typical and many of them were women. It's a trend that continues to this day.
Scientists are busy trying to figure out why this is happening, but last spring they got confirmation that the phenomenon is real in the United States. By examining comprehensive cancer registries in multiple states across the country, researchers concluded that stomach cancer has been increasing at a greater rate in younger women. Over nearly two decades, rates for women under 55 rose 3 percent, which is twice that for younger men. This is occurring as rates for older people were dropping. The increase in young women is happening primarily in non-Hispanic whites, a group traditionally less likely to develop the disease than Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians.
In the U.S., men over 55 still make up the bulk of stomach cancer patients, but the growth in younger women has been especially worrisome because their disease tends to be more virulent.
"These tumors are more advanced at diagnosis and they're more aggressive," leading to worse prognoses, Kumar says.
The overall five-year survival rate for stomach cancer in the U.S. Is 36 percent. This figure has been dropping in recent years, especially in Asian and Black Americans. But for people diagnosed after the cancer has spread—a likely scenario for the younger people with more aggressive tumors—the survival rate is just 6.6 percent.
The increase in stomach cancers mimics a similar jump in other gastrointestinal cancers in younger people including pancreatic and colorectal cancer, a reason federal recommendations for colonoscopy screenings were lowered a few years ago to age 45 from 50.
Why is this happening?There are several theories on what is causing the spike but no definitive understanding on why this is happening. "That is the question nobody has a good answer for," says Michael Cecchini, a medical oncologist at the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at Yale Cancer Center.
Srinivas Gaddam, a gastroenterologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the senior author of the tracking study believes the lifestyle and environmental changes in recent decades may be impacting young women.
"The environment your stomach sees is everything you take into your body," Gaddam says. Young women are drinking and smoking more, which may play a role. Or perhaps novel chemicals have entered the food system. Even toxins we breathe can land in the stomach if the lungs cough it up and you swallow it, he notes.
Younger women who are diagnosed with stomach cancer are often shocked by the news. Camilla Row, who was a 39-year-old mother of two young children in Los Angeles at the time remembers thinking, "I didn't even know you could get cancer of the stomach."
But Row wasn't the only one who didn't consider this possibility. Her physicians overlooked the symptoms too. During the prior two years as she experienced recurring burning and stabbing sensations in her stomach, three physicians diagnosed gastrointestinal reflux disease and prescribed antacids. Every time Row tried to stop taking the drugs, intense pain followed. Only after she called her primary care physician in tears was she finally referred for an endoscopy that led to her cancer diagnosis.
In addition to heartburn and abdominal pain, other symptoms of stomach cancer include nausea, weight loss, and vomiting blood. But since the early stage is generally silent, symptoms like this likely indicate advanced disease.
Germs, genes, and dietIn much of the world, stomach cancer is pervasive and is the fourth leading cancer killer globally. In the U.S., rates are significantly lower, comprising just over 1 percent of cancer diagnoses.
A prime reason is that the leading cause of most stomach cancers is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the same germ that causes many stomach ulcers. H. Pylori is endemic in many parts of the world due to poor sanitation systems. Other known risk factors for the disease include a diet of smoked, salty, or prepared foods; obesity; and a history of smoking, Cecchini says.
Genetics also play a role, especially for cancers in younger people. This includes those with Lynch syndrome, a disease in which mutations in genes involved in DNA repair increase the risk of numerous cancers including colorectal, small bowel, stomach, ovarian, pancreatic, and brain.
A mutation in a different gene called CDH1 was behind the stomach cancer of Courtney Zentz, a 42-year-old woman from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Her mother died at age 54 in 2006, four months after being diagnosed with a sudden, aggressive stomach cancer. Four years ago, Zentz decided to undergo genetic testing and found she had inherited this rare mutation.
The only way to avoid the same fate as her mother was to prophylactically remove Zentz's stomach—along with her gallbladder and both breasts, also at high risk of cancer. Zentz followed this advice, leading surgeons to connect her esophagus directly to her small intestine so she could still eat, albeit in smaller portions. Cells taken and analyzed after the operation revealed that she already had stage 1 stomach cancer.
"My mother dying saved my life," Zentz says. It also saved her brother who had inherited the mutation and undergone stomach-removal surgery.
Treatments keep improvingTreatments for stomach cancer generally involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or immunotherapy.
Camilla Row's cancer was discovered after it had spread only to a few nearby lymph nodes. She initially had good results after stomach removal surgery followed by chemotherapy. But three years later the disease came roaring back, spreading to the membrane in her abdomen known as the peritoneum.
Row had her ovaries removed and had more intravenous chemotherapy. This has been followed by an experimental treatment known as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion, in which chemo drugs are pumped directly inside the abdomen at a concentration 40 times greater than IV chemo. The results documenting the effectiveness of this technique have been mixed.
So far, it's working. Row, now 45, has had seven treatments at Los Angeles City of Hope cancer center and currently has no signs of cancer. She knows the odds are against her but is determined to maintain a positive mindset.
"I could be one of the six percent who survives long-term," she says. "That's what I'm praying for."
No good screening toolsUnlike mammography for breast cancer or colonoscopy for colorectal, no screening protocols are currently recommended for early detection of stomach cancer.
Widespread screening, which would involve an endoscopy and biopsy of any lesions, doesn't make sense for all people over a certain age in the U.S. Because the cancer is not common enough, Kumar says.
She hopes future research can pinpoint the subgroups of people at highest risk who may one day be referred for annual screens, just as certain former smokers are urged to get annual lung cancer tests.
[Read about the New guidance on lung cancer screening. Here's who is affected.]
So far, Kumar and her colleagues have identified several groups who are more prone, including people born in Eastern Europe, certain Asian countries including Japan (but not Korea or China), Ecuador, Honduras, or Peru, along with those who have H. Pylori and smoke.
In the meantime, with incidence rising in younger people, those with a family history of GI cancers or who are experiencing persistent symptoms should discuss the matter with their physician.
"The rising incidence in younger people means we need to have a heightened awareness and take symptoms seriously—patients as well as physicians," Cecchini says. "They could indicate more than just a nuisance."
Stomach Cancer Killed Toby Keith At 62. What Are The Symptoms?
Toby Keith's official website and social media announced in a statement Tuesday that the country music singer and guitarist died on Feb. 5 at the age of 62.
His death comes just 18 months after he shared with fans that he was being treated for stomach cancer when he was diagnosed in the fall of 2021.
Following the devastating news, his death has raised awareness about the condition.
Stomach cancer is "not one of the more common causes of cancer death, but the problem is that, when it's diagnosed, it's oftentimes late stage," Dr. William Chey, a gastroenterologist at the University of Michigan Health, told TODAY.Com.
Chey also told the news outlet that in cases such as these, the cancer usually progresses faster.
Additionally, Chey said the treatments Keith was receiving "would be much more typical for late-stage stomach cancers."
As you might have guessed, some lifestyle choices could increase people's risk of developing stomach cancer, such as smoking, eating unhealthy foods and drinking alcohol, Meira Epplein, a professor for Duke University's School of Medicine, said to The Washington Post.
Bacteria called "Helicobacter pylori," which is contagious and can cause stomach infections, can develop into stomach cancer in about 3% of people.
Another contributing factor is family history.
"Anybody who has a strong family history of stomach cancer … they'd be potentially at higher risk," Matthew Reilley, a professor for the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said to The Washington Post.
Stomach cancer is most common in men who are over the age of 60, David Bentrem, a surgery professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said to the Post.
Wondering what you should look out for?
Stomach cancer is detected either after an upper endoscopy, which is a tube – with a camera attached – inserted through the mouth to examine the stomach, or through CT scans.
Some symptoms are similar to digestive conditions like gastritis and peptic ulcers, but watch out for stomach pain, bloating and vomiting.
Other key warning signs to watch out for are heartburn, indigestion, unexpected weight loss, and acid reflux.
Unfortunately, in some cases, the cancer is detected late because some of those symptoms don't show up until it has progressed, according to Jennifer Eads, an oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center.
"Sometimes people don't really have a symptom, necessarily, when it's in the very early stage," Eads said to the Post.
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