Can Stomach Cancer Be Cured | Gastric Cancer Stages

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When people talking about stomach cancer (gastric cancer); ‘Can it be cured -- is it curable?’, ‘What are the stages of the disease’, and ‘What are the current treatments?’ are some of the most frequently asked questions! You might also like to read diagnosis & tests of gastric cancer, before continuing!

This disease can develop and occur in any part of the stomach, and even there is also a chance for it to spread the nearby tissues or organs. Unfortunately, many researchers and experts still don’t know the exact cause of stomach cancer. But some risk factors of this disease have been identified. And fortunately most of these risk factors are changeable.

Furthermore, there is opinion that when people have been diagnosed with stomach ulcer then their risk of having gastric cancer is high. But this is wrong -- there is still no scientifically evidence to confirm this issue. Many experts still believe that stomach ulcer doesn’t increase an individual risk of having gastric cancer.

Stomach cancer stages

According a published article on MedicineNet, doctors classify the stages of this disease into five major stages, these include:

Stage 4 (IV)

It is the most severe stage. In this stage, cells of cancer have spread to (a) certain distant parts /organs of patient’s body, or (b) more than 15 lymph nodes, or (c) when the cancer has invaded /affected at least 1 lymph node and nearby organs.

In addition, lymph nodes are lymphatic-tissue’s rounded mass that is usually surrounded by a capsule (capsule of connective tissue), which usually located along the body’s lymphatic vessels. 

Stage 3 (III)

It is a stage when the cells of cancer are one of the following:

1. Haven’t spread to distant organs /lymph nodes, but the nearby organs (like spleen, colon, and liver) have been invaded by the tumor.
2. Or have spread to 1 - 15 lymph nodes, and the outer layer of stomach’s wall (serosa) has been penetrated by the tumor. Read also 5 major layers of wall of stomach!
3. Or have spread to 7 - 15 lymph nodes, and the subserosa of stomach’s wall has been invaded by the tumor).

Stage 2 (II)

In this stage, the cells of cancer are one of the following:

1. Haven’t spread to lymph nodes - also haven’t spread to other organs, but the outer layer (serosa) has been penetrated by the tumor.
2. Or have spread to 1 - 6 lymph nodes, and the muscle layer of stomach’s wall has been invaded by the tumor.
3. Or have spread to 7 - 15 lymph nodes, and the support tissue for the inner layer of stomach’s wall (submucosa) has been invaded.

Stage 1 (I)

According to the National Cancer Institute -- in this stage, the cells of cancer are already found in the innermost layer of stomach’s wall (inside lining of mucosa). And based on where the cells of cancer have spread, stage 1 is categorized into two stages; 

1. Stage 1A! It is a condition when cancer cells may have been found in the submucosa.
2. Stage 1B! It is a condition of one of the following: (a) when the cancer cells have spread to 1 - 2 lymph nodes and may also already be found in the submucosa, or (b) when cancer cells are already found in the muscle layer of wall of stomach.

Stage 0

This phase is also called /known as ‘Carcinoma in Situ’! It is a condition when there are abnormal cells (they may become cancer or not) in the innermost layer (the inside lining of mucosa) of stomach’s wall. 

In addition, there are 3 major ways of cancer to spread. It can spread through blood, lymph system, and tissue.

So, is stomach cancer curable?

The chance to cure gastric cancer is good if the disease is diagnosed at early stage. The spread of cancer significantly influence the successful of the treatment. In other words, the prognosis of stage 0 and I of the disease are much better than the higher stages.

Unfortunately, most cases of people with this disease are diagnosed at later stages. There are some reasons of this late diagnosis;

1. In the early stage, the disease typically only result few signs or even very few symptoms. This is reason of why many patients don’t realize to the existing of the disease at early stage.
2. Most of symptoms that occur are also often vague. Moreover, some of these symptoms also can be caused by many other health conditions -- therefore the diagnosis of stomach cancer is also not easy. 
3. There is still no specific procedure /test to decide whether or not you have this disease (particularly for the early stage of stomach cancer). The diagnosis often involves a combination of some tests and physical exams.

Mass screening programs may be helpful to catch the disease at early stage. In fact, this method is successful in Japan (a country where gastric cancer is common -- much more common if compared in the U.S).

In general, the decision of a kind of treatment to treat /cure stomach cancer is closely associated with the stage of the disease, the characteristics of the tumor itself (location, extent, and size of tumor), and overall health of patient.

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Reference: MedicineNet