Treatment for Stomach Cancer

There are three ways of treating stomach cancer. This may contain surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy or the combination of these. The doctor takes into consideration numerous things before planning the entire treatment plan.

Among it the location and the extent of cancer spread, age of the patient, health status and patient’s other preferences everything is taken into consideration. The staging determines the exact penetration of cancer and its further invasion to the surrounding lymph nodes and other body parts.

Surgery- is the most preferred option in case of stomach cancer. The surgery procedure is known as gastrectomy. The surgeon may remove part or major part of the stomach; he may also remove the surrounding tissues of the stomach.  In case of subtotal gastrectomy the stomach is directly connected to the small intestine or the esophagus.

While in case of total gastrectomy the esophagus and the small intestine are directly joined. The lymph nodes surrounding the tumor are also removed during the surgery and the samples are sent for biopsy to determine the cancer cells. Depending on the biopsy report the further treatment is done:-

Chemotherapy- in this the anti cancer drugs are given in form of oral medication or in form of injection to the patient. This can be done as primary mode of treatment or even after surgery to destroy the cancer cells. This can be in combination too and is given in cycles.

Radiation therapy- this is done after the surgery to destroy the cells that could not be removed in surgery. External beam radiations are used and the high energy rays are concentrated on cancer. The patients may complain with nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. One can overcome with dietary changes along with medication. Sometimes the treated area can become red, itchy and tender. Thus loose fitted clothes are suggested. Also avoid external application of any cream or lotion in that area without the doctors advice.

Immunotherapy- this treatment helps the immune system of the body. It may attack and destroy the cancerous cells and may help the body from recovering from the side effects of the treatment. This treatment is better to avoid any reoccurrence of cancer. The patents may need to stay in hospitals while receiving this therapy.