Stomach Cancer

Also called gastric cancer, stomach cancer can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout and to other organs. Stomach cancer can also grow along the stomach wall into other organs or lymph nodes.

Stomach cancer can be hard to find early. Often there are no symptoms in the early stages and, in many cases, it has spread before it is found. To confirm a diagnosis of stomach cancer, your doctor may request:

• a fecal occult blood test - to check for hidden blood in the stool
  
• an upper GI series of X-rays
  
• endoscopy with a thin, lighted tube called a gastroscope
  
  To find out whether any other organs are affected, a doctor may order a CAT scan, an ultrasound exam or other tests.

Staging - determining the extent to which the disease has spread - of stomach cancer may not be complete until after surgery. The surgeon removes nearby lymph nodes and may take samples of tissues from other areas in the abdomen for a pathologist to examine. Decisions about treatment after surgery depend on these findings.