GI malignancies Flashcards
How common are GI malignancies?
3rd most common cancer in UK
- bowel
- pancreas
- oesophagus
- stomach
- liver
What is dysphagia?
difficulty swallowing
What are the 3 causes of dysphagia (broadly)
- extra-luminal (due to compression by lungs or hearts)
- luminal - benign (foreign body)
- intra-luminal
What are the red flags for someone presenting with dysphagia?
A - anaemia (blood loss in malignancy L - loss of weight unintentional A - anorexia (loss of appetite) R - recent onset of progressive symptoms M - masses and malaena
What types of oesophageal carcinoma’s are there?
-linked to epithelia type
SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA - stratified squamous epithelium in the oesophagus
ADENOCARCINOMA - else where in the GI tract although can develop this in lower oesophagus (barret’s)
What are the risk factors for oesophageal carcinoma?
- smoking
- barrets
- GORD
What is the prognosis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma?
5% survival at 5 years
very poor
How can you diagnose oesophageal carcinoma?
barium swallow and X-ray - look at latency of the oesopahgus OR OGD and look at the epithelial lining and take a biopsy
What is another symptoms of Upper GI malignancy’s?
epigastric pain
causes can be;
- eophagitis,
- peptic ulcer
- perforated ulcer
- pancreatitis
What are the red flags for epigastric pain?
- malaena (altered blood coming from upper GI tract)
- Haematemesis - vomitin blood
What are some other causes of upper GI bleeding?
oesophageal varicies gastric ulcer duodenal ulcer acute gastritis carcinoma of the stomach
Where is the most common site fr gastric cancer?
-cardia or antrum
due to the type of epithelium there, adenocarcinomas are more common
How would patients present?
- epigastric pain
- symptoms similar to peptic ulcer
- palpable mass
What are the risk factors for gastric cancer?
- smoking
- high salt diet
- fam history
- H/pylori (risk factor for gastric ulcers too)
NOTE
in general, chronic inflammation puts you at higher risk of malignancy
What is the prognosis for gastric cancer?
generally quite poor
-10% 5 year survival
50% after curative surgery
Why do we not screen gastric cancer in the UK?
prevalence is low in UK
screwing occurs in japan due to high salt diet and higher prevalence
What is gastric lymphoma?
- MALT tissues
- similar presentation to gastric carcinoma
- most associated with H.Pylori
- prognosis better than gastric cancer due to the type of tissue associated with it
What is GIST’s?
Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumors
(soft tissue)
-sarcomas
-tend to be incidental finding on endoscopy (tend to be benign)
What is another symptom of upper GI cancers?
jaundice
What are the red flags for jaundice?
- Hepatomegaly presenting with irregular border on palpation
- Unintentional weight loss
- painless
- ascites
What is ascites?
accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity causing abdominal swelling
Why would you get ascites?
1) low albumin levels so more fluid leaks out
2) portal hypertension causing compression so water leaks out
3) depositions in the peritoneum due to damaged liver
What is hepatocellular carcinoma?
- primary malignancy of the liver cells
- very rare
- links to underlying disease