STOMACH CANCER Flashcards
Removing small cancers from the stomach lining
Very small cancers can be cut away from the inside lining of the stomach. To remove the cancer, a tube is passed down the throat and into the stomach. Special cutting tools are passed through the tube to cut out the cancer. This procedure is called an endoscopic mucosal resection. It might be an option for treating stage 1 cancer that’s growing on the inner lining of the stomach.
Removing part of the stomach.
subtotal gastrectomy. The surgeon removes the part of the stomach affected by cancer and some of the healthy tissue around it. It might be an option if your stomach cancer is located in the part of the stomach nearest the small intestine.
Removing the entire stomach.
This procedure is called a total gastrectomy. It involves removing all of the stomach and some surrounding tissue. The surgeon connects the esophagus to the small intestine to allow food to move through the digestive system. Total gastrectomy is a treatment for cancers in the part of the stomach that is closest to the esophagus.
Small stage 1 stomach cancers
can be cut away from the inner lining of the stomach. But if the cancer grows into the muscle layer of the stomach wall, this might not be an option. Some stage 1 cancers may need surgery to remove all of or some of the stomach.
For stage 2 and stage 3 stomach cancers,
surgery might not be the first treatment. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy might be used first to shrink the cancer. This might make it easier to remove the cancer completely. Surgery often involves removing some or all of the stomach and also some lymph nodes.
If stage 4 stomach cancer grows through the stomach and into nearby organs, surgery might be an option.
To remove all of the cancer, parts of the nearby organs might be removed, too. Other treatments might be used first to shrink the cancer. If a stage 4 cancer can’t be removed completely, surgery might help control symptoms.
Radiation therapy might not be needed for stage 1 stomach cancer
It might not be needed if surgery removed all of the cancer and there’s a low risk that the cancer will come back.
Radiation is sometimes used before surgery to treat stage 2 and stage 3 stomach cancers
t can shrink the cancer so that it’s easier to remove. Giving radiation before surgery is called neoadjuvant radiation.
Radiation therapy might be used after surgery if the cancer can’t be removed completely.
Giving radiation after surgery is called adjuvant radiation.
T1
The tumor has grown into the lamina propria, muscularis mucosae, or the submucosa, which are the inner layers of the wall of the stomach.
T2
The tumor has grown into the muscularis propria, the muscle layer of the stomach.
T3
The tumor has grown through all of the layers of the muscle into the connective tissue outside the stomach. It has not grown into the lining of the abdomen, called the peritoneal lining, or into the serosa, which is the outer layer of the stomach.
T4
The tumor has grown through all of the layers of the muscle into the connective tissue outside the stomach. It has also grown into the peritoneal lining or serosa or the organs surrounding the stomach.
stage 1 tx
Gastrectomy (surgery to remove all or part of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes) is the main treatment for stage I stomach cancer. Some people may receive chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy before or after surgery. Giving chemotherapy at the same time as radiation therapy may help the radiation therapy work better.
Endoscopic mucosal resection is a less invasive procedure that may be used in people with small tumors that have a low risk of spreading to nearby lymph nodes.
stage 2 3
Gastrectomy (surgery to remove all or part of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes) is the main treatment for stage II stomach cancer and stage III stomach cancer. Some people may receive chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy before or after surgery. Giving chemotherapy at the same time as radiation therapy may help the radiation therapy work better.
