What causes stomach cancer? What bad habits should you give up to prevent it?

According to experts from Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, stomach cancer is a malignant disease that originates from the epithelial cells of the stomach and can occur anywhere in the stomach.

Doctor Quach Van Kien - Deputy Head of the Department of Digestive Surgery, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital said that according to Globocan 2020, in Vietnam, stomach cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death, with about 17,000 new cases and about 14,000 deaths each year.

Stomach cancer is the cause of bad habits that need to be prevented image 1 — Cancer screening is needed, especially for people over 40 years old (photo source: Viet Duc Hospital).

Risk factors for developing stomach cancer include smoking. Not only those who smoke directly, but also those who are exposed to cigarette smoke are at increased risk of developing the disease. Diets such as eating a lot of salt, fried foods, grilled foods, pickled foods (salted meat, smoked meat, etc.) often increase the risk of developing the disease.

Dr. Quach Van Kien said that in 1994, WHO pointed out that Helicoplori (HP) bacteria is an important risk factor in stomach cancer. People infected with HP have a 3 to 6 times higher risk of getting the disease than those who are not infected, especially those with chronic HP infection.

Patients with gastric polyps, precancerous lesions such as thick mucosal atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and gastric dysplasia are also factors that increase the risk of the disease.

In addition, according to Dr. Kien, stomach cancer is related to a number of genetic syndromes such as Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, FAP, and Juvenile syndrome.

Experts from Viet Duc Friendship Hospital also said that the signs of stomach cancer depend on the stage of detection. In the early stages, there are almost no symptoms.

Dull epigastric pain or sometimes the patient feels abdominal distension, this symptom is very similar to that of gastric and duodenal ulcers so it is easily overlooked.

Loss of appetite, weight loss: patients often feel loss of appetite, loss of appetite accompanied by symptoms of unexplained weight loss, rapid weight loss in a short period of time. These may be warning symptoms that require medical examination.

Nausea, vomiting or bloating after eating can also be a warning sign of stomach cancer.

Dysphagia is also a symptom that can occur in stomach cancer, often with tumors in the cardia-pylorus region.

Vomiting blood or passing black stools: If you have signs of vomiting blood (bright red, dark red, blood clots...) or passing black stools for a long time, you may have stomach cancer.

According to Dr. Quach Van Kien, current treatment for stomach cancer is multimodal treatment (combining many methods) such as surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy... Depending on the patient's condition and the stage of disease detection, the doctor will advise the patient on the appropriate treatment method for each patient.

Surgery is still the main method. In addition to removing part or all of the stomach, doctors will perform lymph node dissection to ensure the removal of all cancerous tissue.

Currently, with precancerous lesions, if detected early through gastroduodenoscopy, endoscopic intervention such as submucosal resection -ESD is one of the selected methods, the patient will avoid a major surgery and the results are very positive, almost completely cured.

Ways to prevent stomach cancer include limiting salty foods, pickles, smoked meats, etc. They contain a lot of nitrites, which when entering the stomach will combine into substances that can easily cause stomach cancer. Combine with eating a lot of green vegetables.

Quit smoking, drinking alcohol, stimulants… Using these substances will cause many cancers, not just stomach cancer. Have a reasonable and moderate rest and exercise regimen.

Completely treat gastric ulcers, gastric reflux and HP bacteria. In particular, annual gastric cancer screening by periodic endoscopy is recommended, especially for people over 40 years old, with many risk factors... to detect and treat the disease promptly. Gastric cancer can be completely cured if detected at an early stage.

Source