The medical name for stomach cancer is gastric cancer.
The stomach is divided into five different sections,
and cancer can develop in any of these sections.
Cancers beginning in these different sections
may produce different symptoms and have different
outcomes. The location can also affect some of
the treatment options that are available.
Stomach cancers are believed to develop slowly over
many years. Before a true cancer develops, there
are usually precancerous changes that occur in the
lining of the stomach that rarely produce symptoms
and therefore often go undetected. If left untreated,
stomach cancers can spread by several different means.
They can grow through the wall of the stomach into
nearby organs or they can spread through the bloodstream
or lymph system to form distant colonies of cancer
called metastasis.
Approximately 90% to 95% of the malignant tumors
of the stomach are adenocarcinomas. The terms stomach
cancer or gastric cancer almost always refer to adenocarcinoma
of the stomach. This cancer develops from the cells
that form the inner lining of the stomach called
the epithelium.
Most people diagnosed with stomach cancer are in
their 60s and 70s.
Source: American Cancer Society
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