Stomach Cancer Risk Factors

There are a number of risk factors that increase the risk of stomach cancer. These stomach cancer risk factors are:

• smoking;
• excessive use of alcohol;
• a long-term infection (or decades) with the Helicobacter pylori bacterium ;
• an unhealthy and unilateral diet; especially eating little fruit and vegetables can increase the risk of stomach cancer;
• an earlier stomach operation, with a part of the stomach removed;
• high consumption of smoked and salted foods seems to increase the risk of stomach cancer.

The exact cause of stomach cancer is unclear. For example, a polyp (a womb of the gastrointestinal mucosa) may cause stomach cancer, but in addition, this form of cancer may also be a consequence of a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa.

Heredity
In about three to five percent of people with stomach cancer, heredity seems to play a role. In these people, it often occurs at a young age; that is, for their 40th year of life.
There are hereditary conditions where various types of tumors can occur. A tumor that may occur among these conditions is stomach cancer. These hereditary disorders are:

• Lynch syndrome (formerly HNPCC)
• Syndrome of Peutz-Jeghers

There are also families with hereditary stomach cancer, with no other tumors occurring.



Stomach cancer diagnosis
Various studies are possible to determine abnormalities in the stomach. Your doctor will determine which studies are the most appropriate in your case. Initially, a gastroscopy (gastric examination) is usually done. If the doctor finds abnormalities during this examination, he/she will remove small bites of tissue (biopsies). These are then examined under the microscope to detect or exclude different cells.
Usually, your doctor will also test your blood. In this way, anemia can be demonstrated. This may indicate prolonged blood loss from the stomach. The result of blood tests also gives an indication of your physical condition.

If the diagnosis is stomach cancer
If after gastroscopy shows that you have stomach cancer, additional research will be done. This is necessary to see how far the tumor has expanded. For example, the tumor may have grown through the wall of the stomach, or even in the surrounding organs. There may also be sowing elsewhere in the body. The doctor must investigate at what stage your illness is. This is very important because the stage of the disease largely determines which treatment is possible. Depending on the results of these additional studies, the doctor will suggest treatment.

*Image source : Wikimedia Commons

References :

1. National Cancer Institute
2. Mayo Clinic
3. American Cancer Society