Stomach Cancer Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of stomach cancer

Early signs of stomach cancer, symptoms

In early stage, there are no symptoms and signs. Or in some patients, the stomach cancer symptoms are usually mild, nonspecific, and manifested as indigestion including upper abdominal discomfort, belching, and easy satiety. Since these early symptoms appear more frequently in benign gastric disease (e.g. gastritis, stomach ulcer), functional dyspepsia, or liver and gallbladder diseases, the stomach cancer is not likely to be considered first. In other words, these symptoms of indigestion are harmless most of the time.

The bleeding stomach ulcer can cause a gastric bleeding. This case is quite common. When greater leakage of blood from ulcerated wound into the stomach, there is a vomiting of blood or blood in stool. By contact with the gastric acid, the fresh red blood turns brown-black in color and more thick in consistency. Therefore, the vomits are often coffee-grounds-like, and the stool turns black. A black tarry stool means mucus and stale blood (black) in stool, and the mucus makes the stool surface looks shiny. Due to the long-term bleeding, even a small amount, it can also cause anemia.

If the stomach cancer narrows the pylorus (export of the stomach), the ingested food in the stomach will be no longer unobstructed to enter the duodenum (the first part of small intestine). At this point, patients have a bloating or flatulence, also feel nausea, so they want to vomit. The vomits are usually the mixture of food debris and gastric juice, as well as mixed by blood sometimes. After the vomiting, the patients feel temporary relief and pressure disappearance.

By the reflux of stomach acid and the digested food into the esophagus, heartburn can occur.

Also, unintentional weight loss, anemia, difficulty swallowing, reduced general condition or slightly elevated body temperature may occur as symptoms of stomach cancer. For advanced large tumors, especially in thin people, this is sometimes palpable.

If it's already been a colony of stomach cancer in lymph nodes, that is most likely to appear in the left supraclavicular fossa. Here, this swollen, palpable lymph node is called Virchow lymph node. When metastases in the liver, that can enlarge liver and thus leads to pressure pain. Moreover, larger amounts of fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites) accumulation.

intolerances

A newly arisen incompatibility of coffee, fruit, alcohol (especially wine and champagne), and an aversion to meat and increased loss of appetite are typical symptoms of stomach cancer. Often, the abdominal discomfort in the stomach region is only very low or nonexistent for a long time, and the early symptoms of stomach cancer are common and not typical, and also appear more frequently in other gastrointestinal disorders, gastritis, stomach ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux, functional dyspepsia.

If symptoms persist and progress despite treatment and regulation of lifestyle and diet, the physician should have to exclude a stomach cancer by gastroscopy.

Diseases with similar symptoms

Some diseases can cause the same or similar symptoms as stomach cancer. These include:

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is responsible for most of stomach cancers. This germ settles in the stomach lining and causes an inflammation of the stomach, usually called gastritis. Also, the risk of developing a lymphatic glands tumor of stomach (gastric lymphoma) increases significantly when getting a bacterium infection by Helicobacter pylori.


Article From: Stomachcancersymptoms.org
Created: 2011-12-08
Last update: 2012-04-13