(WYTV)- Stomach cancer is also called gastric cancer.
It’s an abnormal growth of cells that begins in the stomach.
It can affect the main stomach lining or where the esophagus meets the stomach.
Our treatments for it are improving all the time. Stomach cancer is relatively rare in this country and we often catch it at later stages, when we really start feeling nauseous, we have deep heartburn and strong bloated feelings.
“I tell patients who have recently been diagnosed with gastric cancer that there is definitely a hope because we’ve gotten significantly better in the last decade, and more specifically really, in the last year or two, where we have now many more treatment options than we had before,” said oncologist Mohamad Sonbol of the Mayo Clinic.
The early signs of stomach cancer include abdominal pain, blood in the stool or just feeling tired. Other risk factors include obesity, smoking and serious drinking.
Men are at a higher risk for stomach cancer than a women. It can also run in families.